


Dead Men Tell No Tales

by NocturnalKnowitall



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternative Universe - 18th Century, Alternative Universe - Merpeople, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst with a Happy Ending, Background Character Death, Drinking, Drunken Kissing, Eating Mango, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Frottage, M/M, Masturbation, Other, Period-Typical Homophobia, Stranded on a Deserted Island Cliché, Wooing, sexual identity crisis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-05-19 19:24:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14879735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NocturnalKnowitall/pseuds/NocturnalKnowitall
Summary: Hux was stranded alone on an island, saved from the clutches of death by a creature best described as something out of legend and myth. Said creature has questions, and many of them.Hux has a few of his own.





	1. Sharks Don't Have Hands

**Author's Note:**

> A slight warning for this first chapter: There's a few sentences referring to suicidal ideation. Nothing bad happens regarding that, but Hux is pretty miserable at first. If this is something you would rather not read, I have provided a link to an edited Google Docs version down in the comments.
> 
>  
> 
> Huge thanks to Phrixion for the beta work!

Armitage Hux was a dead man.

He was in the middle of the ocean, floating on a piece of wood that barely held his weight, with the high sun burning his already painfully red skin. By his estimations, Hux had been without food or water for about three days now, and it was starting to take its toll on his body. He was starving, tired, aching, and confused. But most of all, Hux was angry. He should’ve listened to the signs of the bad weather ahead, but he didn’t. And now his ship was gone, the supplies and weapons on the bottom of the ocean, and his crew either drowned or eaten by the undoubtedly shark-infested waters.

 

The man o’ war was a prime example of shipbuilding expertise. Some 800 capable men, 124 guns, and a top speed of nine knots. All this, and Hux was the captain. He had been ordered by his superiors to circle the outer perimeters the Caribbean ocean, sinking down any and all unwelcome vessels in sight. Most of the ships they sank were pirate ones, but the odd French and Spanish frigate met the same watery fate.

Hux, despite his slim frame and young age, was an expert in warfare, and rose quickly through the ranks. His command of the ship was strict, but not unkindly so, as he knew his crew would follow orders without objection.

Though now Hux was ruthless in his current quest. There was one specific pirate ship that had evaded Britain’s grasp time and again, sinking ships and stealing goods everywhere it went. He could see the infuriating ship through the telescope, and they were clearly gaining on it. The wind helped the man o’ war to reach its peak speed of nine knots, but what had started as a light breeze quickly turned to one of the worst storms Hux had ever experienced.

The sails were the first to go; the wood splintering in the heavy winds, sending one mast against the others, causing all three to eventually crash down onto the main deck. Now the ship was lopsided. Hux had yelled out orders to fasten all cannons, or else they’d topple over, but with the heavy rain and violent gusts, no-one could be heard.

A few hundred yards ahead, Hux could clearly see the pirate ship was no better off than they were. Good riddance. Although Hux and his crew would end up the same way if they didn’t try to prevent things soon. But they had no sails, half of his men were overboard, and – with how the ship skewed even further – the hull was damaged and taking in water. They were doomed.

Hux still held on to the steering wheel to try and push the ship away from the storm, but soon enough, bad became worse: the oil lanterns below deck had fallen to the floor and lit everything up underneath. Any second now, the flames would catch the gunpowder storage.

On instinct, Hux screamed “Everybody off!” then ran to the rails. He didn’t bother to check if anybody heard, as there weren’t more than a hundred men left onboard. The icy waters chilled Hux to the bone as he dove, but the adrenaline still coursing through his veins had him swimming as far away as possible before everything went ablaze.

The sound of the blast rang hard, and Hux quickly ducked under to avoid any falling debris hurtling his way. From underneath he could see that the sky above became a terrifying golden yellow in the explosion. Hux knew he would burn if he broke surface, so he swam lower and further away. He continued on until he couldn’t anymore, then went up and gasped lungful after lungful of smoky air.

He turned around and gazed upon what remained of his man o’ war. The still-raging storm threw seawater every which way, as well as the flames emitting from the wreckage. The screams of the men unfortunate to be within the distance of the ship permeated Hux’s ringing ears, but there was nothing to do about it. A piece of the hull floated towards him and he frantically took hold of it to paddle away with. There was nothing left to do.

 

As soon as the storm came, it disappeared again, and Hux was left on still waters with clear skies in the middle of the ocean. A small wave nearly threw his aching self of the plank he laid on, and for the umpteenth time he chastised the situation he’s gotten himself in. The damned thing couldn’t even take Hux’s entire weight, so he only had his upper body above the water.

Hux didn’t know what to do. There was no land in sight, but his blurred vision probably couldn’t even tell if there was. He was also too tired to even try paddling in one direction for more than a few minutes. Hux knew he was dying, but his arrogance wouldn’t let go of the wood, so he kept up with this futile attempt to stay alive until he would eventually pass out. Or get eaten. One or the other. As long as he didn’t take the cowards’ route, he was fine.

He had had the foresight to take off his coat before jumping overboard, but his boots were another matter. They weighed down heavily, but Hux would have no opportunity to undo the knots and kick them off, so on they stayed. The afternoon sun burned, and no matter how many times Hux ducked underwater to alleviate his blistered skin, the pain was still there.

He laid his head down on the hot wood and gazed off into the horizon. It would be a beautiful day to die, he thought idly. Though, out of the blue, something disturbed the silent water.

 _Ah, that must be the shark coming for me_ , Hux thought.

The same something broke surface again, this time a little closer. It looked a little off to be a shark’s dorsal fin, but Hux dismissed the oddity in his delirious state.

The third time something went above the water, it was right in front of Hux.

It was a hand.

 _Strange. Sharks don’t have hands_ , Hux’s mind supplied. Said hand grabbed his makeshift raft, soon joined by another. Both held onto the wood for a beat before a third something came up.

A head. And shoulders. Huh.

“Hi,” a deep voice said. Hux stared dumbly at what was before him. Dark eyes, with even darker hair framing the face of a man. Hux surely must’ve succumbed to the heat and died, as this simply could not appear to be possible. He was in the middle of the ocean, the only survivor of a freak storm which had destroyed his ship and killed all of his men.

Hux opened his cracked lips to demand an answer as to why a complete stranger had materialised out of nowhere and that the first words uttered by said stranger were something so _trivial_ as ‘hi’.

But what he heard himself say, was a hoarse “Hello.”

The man in front of him beamed at Hux in obvious excitement, then said, “You look like you could use some help.”

Hux’s hazy mind had trouble putting together each syllable coming from the other’s mouth. It was clearly in English, that much he could tell, but none of it made sense. It had simply been too many days without any sort of sensory input other that the sound of the waves around them. If this, in fact, wasn’t a mirage or the hallucinations of a drowning man, then Hux should really pay attention, but as the seconds ticked by, he still had trouble understanding what had just been said.

The other man gently tapped Hux’s sunburnt forearm with what appeared to be a longer-than-average nail. In any other circumstance, the act would’ve only annoyed him, but that feather-light sensation shot hot flashes of pain throughout Hux’s system. He couldn’t help jerking his arm towards his chest or the sharp hiss that escaped his clenched teeth.

The motion almost made him lose his precarious grip of the hull piece, but the stranger balanced out the weight by putting both elbows on it. Hux also felt something grab his legs to hold him steady as he settled once more.

“Hey, I can see you’re having trouble out here,” the man said, “There’s land not too far away. I’ll take you there if you can answer my questions afterwards, yes?”

Every word became foreign to Hux’s ears, but the lilt of the other’s voice sounded like the man had just directed a question at him. He desperately hoped it was a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ enquiry and answered in the affirmative.

“Great!” he smiled brightly. “I’m just gonna have to move you a bit, and we’ll be on our way.”

The stranger grabbed Hux’s arms and started dragging him towards the other side. His shirt luckily shielded from the sun, so the hold wasn’t as painful, though the board dug slightly into his protruding hips. The same something that had earlier clutched around his legs now pushed between them – one – two – times, and suddenly Hux’s vision blurred dangerously in the commotion.

Hux closed his eyes as to not throw up the last remnants of his empty stomach. Some more fumbling and touching happened, however nothing made contact to his exposed skin, for which he was grateful. He was unceremoniously flipped over onto his back, and saw a bright flash of the high sun behind closed lids before it shadowed over.

He took caution and slowly opened one eye. Above was the stranger’s chin. The man had somehow placed Hux’s slight frame perfectly on the wood, with his head nestled against a broad chest. The man stabilised the board with an arm on each side as he started paddling underwater.

The slight breeze of their journey felt like a godsend to Hux’s overheated body, and he took this opportunity to savour each and every second of it. He didn’t even need to stay awake anymore, like he had done the past three days as to not accidentally let go of his only lifeline in slumber.

The man who graciously saved him from death’s door was talking about something-or-other. Hux didn’t listen; only let the rumble emitting from his chest lull him to sleep as the ride went on for some time.

 

Before he knew it, someone gently shook him awake. Still groggy, but now a little more coherent, Hux peered at the stranger. It was harder to see the other, since it had gotten dark while he’d rested. _No, not night_ , His brain told him as his eyes adjusted to the darkness around them. They were in some sort of alcove, and Hux was lying on a stone slab, the water silently lapping a few feet below. He could see from behind the man that the sun still shone brightly outside the mouth of the cave.

“You’re on land now,” Hux heard the man say while he explored the rocks with eyes and fingers. He was wrong: the wind from earlier could not compete with the blissfully cold and dry and _unmoving_ ground.

He laid his cheek carefully against the stone and looked upon his saviour. With as much sincerity he could muster, Hux whispered “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” The man smiled back, “Is there anything else you need?”

“Food. And water,” Hux croaked immediately.

The man nodded at the first, but seemed confused at the second part of Hux’s request. He pointed down at the water he was still in, the obvious question in his eyes.

“No. not- not salt,” Hux’s tired body had trouble conveying the words his mind tried telling his lips, “Fresh. Fresh water. Not sea.”

The other quickly caught on to what Hux meant, then said “Stay here. I’ll be back with food and fresh water.” He ducked under and disappeared from view, leaving Hux alone again.

 _It’s not like I have the strength to even go anywhere_ , Hux idly thought as he continued to cool down his burning cheek against the slab. A few minutes passed, and he now had the chance to listen to his body’s needs. He was finally safe, finally able to rest, to not think, to not _fear_ for what may come. He closed his eyes as the mantra played in his head. Finally safe.

Safe.

 


	2. Oh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No chapter warnings here other than references to eating humans.
> 
> Huge thanks to Phrixion for the beta work!

The land dwellers were a strange species. Despite being frankly _awful_ swimmers, what with their two bony fins splashing uselessly around, they still ventured out in the open waters with their monstrous constructions. They just _constantly_ made noise. And fought. So much fighting. It was barbaric. More often than not, some poor soul would fall into the ocean. And that was where Kylo’s kind would come in.

The merpeople were the apex predator of the sea. With their sharp claws and ever sharper teeth, they would quickly pluck the land dwellers from the surface, and drag them down into the dark depths, drowning their prey and feasting on their bodies. The more ‘adventurous’ ones even liked to toy with the land dwellers: pull them down, then release, only to do so again each time they resurfaced. They say the flesh tasted better when under duress.

But most of the time, no-one cared to go near land. What would be the point? There was nothing up above other than food or the occasional fresh breath of air. The merfolk didn’t bother to learn about the land dwellers’ weird customs or habits. Not that the merpeople even understood what the mammals blabbered about if they did. The foreign speech was unheard of under the sea.

Sure, some of the mermaids had learned the others’ language and used it to their own advantage. They lured their prey with sweet-talk and empty promises rather than using brute force. It was cunning, and so was Kylo. He had tricked the mermaids to teach him the language, saying that he’d like to kill this way instead of the slim pickings during the land dwellers’ battles.

However, Kylo, much to everybody else’s chagrin (if they knew), used this skill to sate his curiosity instead of his belly. He’d of course kill and eat the ones he spoke to, but not before demanding they tell him what he wanted to know. And he wanted to know _everything_.

The mammals’ speech was unfortunately very limited from what he’d gathered, since it was only used for one specific thing. And talking to currently drowning ones while others were killed before them was not exactly a profitable course of action (he’d tried). Fortunately for his pack, Kylo kept to himself, so it wasn’t a huge loss when he left many moons ago.

He had swam far away from everything he knew, until he’d arrived in waters where none of the creatures under the surface were familiar, and the ones above were plenty. Kylo would swim between the landmasses protruding everywhere, then innocently ask questions to unsuspecting land dwellers.

It dawned on him quickly that if he obscured his lower half, and hid his webbed hands, the land dwellers would never know what Kylo was until it was too late. What he also came to know after a period of time of conversing with them, was the sheer stupidity they held. There just wasn’t all that much to learn other than the names of certain things, like: legs, human, ship and so on. If there existed a well-informed _human_ , they apparently never travelled alone. Or close to the water.

His thirst for knowledge was insatiable, but nobody around could quench that craving.

 

He was nearly about to give up the search in this area, until he found _him_ . Ever since this redheaded human came here a few moons – _months_ – ago, Kylo had spied on him. Kylo knew that this man could answer all of his questions because of the eloquent way he spoke. And him being a seafaring land dweller was just a bonus. Kylo followed him wherever he could, listening in on conversations with others and taking mental notes on thing he wanted to ask if he ever got the chance. Sadly, the redhead was never alone.

Until now.

Kylo had seen the storm coming in, but the man – Captain Hux they called him – was not deterred from it in his chase after another ship. As the winds picked up and the waves came crashing in more violently, Kylo had problems following along above water by his secondary lungs, so he watched everything unfold from underneath.

The sights and sounds were a marvel to witness, but with the explosion of the ship, Kylo feared that that was the end of his newest subject. But lo and behold, the redhead had survived, swimming underneath the surface before grabbing onto a piece of wood and paddling away.

He had wanted to grab Hux straight away, but the prospect of maybe _not_ eventually eating him afterwards had Kylo rethinking his plans. He picked off a few of the other men still alive after the sharks had had their fill, then rummaged around the now sunken ship for knickknacks and other finds he thought interesting enough to know more about. There were several trips back and forth between the ship and a small piece of uninhabited land before Kylo felt it was enough.

By this point he had lost sight of Hux, and needed nearly two days to find him again. He was not looking good, but at least he was alive and in one piece. His skin was currently redder than his lank hair, and he seemed to be even skinnier than his usual small frame. He was also not really listening to anything of what Kylo said as he swam the both of them to the hidden cave beside the main part of the land.

When asked, Hux had requested fresh water and food. Kylo, trying to be a gracious host, quickly caught several of the most plump fish he could find, killing them and deposited them next to the sleeping man. The next part was a little trickier.

Although it wouldn’t kill merpeople to be without water for a day or two, it wasn’t advised. It was also _quite_ hard to move about without human legs, but Kylo, naturally curious, wanted to be good for Hux so he could return the favour.

 

He swam up to the land until his chest touched sand. There he dragged himself so no part of his body was in water any longer. Dragging himself throughout the entire land would surely tire him out, as well as maybe painfully scratching up the underbelly. Kylo wasn’t even entirely sure if there was fresh water here. He had seen snakes, though, and monkeys. If he could slither himself up to the treeline, he would be able to hoist himself up the trees littering the land. A higher vantage point would do well in his search for the water Hux so desperately needed.

A merman’s body wasn’t necessarily meant to do this, but Kylo found moving his fin left and right surprisingly easy to get to the greens. He also had an excellent upper-body strength, so lifting himself up to the top of the first tree was not a problem.

There he moved slowly from tree to tree, careful as to not entangle his lower half on any branches. After a while of going through most of the land, he saw that it wasn’t as big as he previously thought. However, it did have fresh water. Near the middle there was a generously sized pond with still water sparkling from the sun overhead. Kylo tasted it first to confirm it was without the salt of the sea.

How to transport some of it to where Hux was, was another matter entirely. He knew he couldn’t bring the human here, seeing as how the man could barely move at the time. He needed for find something to hold the water. The leaves in the area could do, but Kylo didn’t think he’d be able to bring enough of it with his constant wiggling back and forth.

An idea popped in his head; one of the many things he brought back from the ship could maybe be of use in this instance. Kylo had left all of it in the cave underwater, and he could clearly remember he had brought some sort of leather container. Hoping it didn’t have any tears or holes, Kylo quickly crawled back to shore. He took the ground route, crushing leaves and moving rocks away to be able to easily find his way back again.

Being in water again felt nice to his dirty and dried skin, but Kylo tried not thinking much about it, as he had to take the same trip again after finding what he was looking for. He entered the cave and saw that Hux was still unconscious, quickly checking his breathing just in case. Kylo didn’t dare disturb him much, so he went below surface and rummaged around for something to contain the water. The leather thing was miraculously unharmed when he took it above water. It even had a small piece of wood attached to a string to stop any leakage.

However, it was quite small. Kylo mentally prepared himself for having to take several trips in case one wasn’t enough to help Hux. The crawl back to the freshwater didn’t take long, but since he had used the entire day exploring the land and crawling here and there, Kylo was bone-tired and sleepy. The sun was already setting, casting a sharp yellowy hue over everything. He hastily cleaned the flask of any salty remnants before filling it up and putting in the cork.

 

Kylo put the container of water within easy reach of Hux in case he woke up. In the dying light, he stared at Hux’s sleeping form. His skin still had the unnatural red tones, as well being far too skinny overall. The still-fresh fish would help with the starvation, but Kylo had no knowledge of exactly how to help with the burned skin. He hoped the man knew what to do to fix it, but at the moment Kylo couldn’t do anything else but lay his weary and aching body under water and sleep.

 

The next morning came entirely too quickly for Kylo’s liking, but the first streaks of light emitting from outside could not be ignored, however. He stretched wide as the dawn chased away the last hope of more sleep. He heard the tell-tale pops coming from his back for having slept  in an awkward position inside the cave too small to comfortably house his long body.

He emerged from the water, only so see that the fish he’d caught the day before was untouched, and now likely spoiled. The water in the container was also still full, and the human beside it still slept. Kylo didn’t know how much land dwellers rest for, but nearly a day still felt like too much in his opinion.

Hux was completely dry by this point, but that was the only change he could see from the stone’s edge, so he pushed himself up onto the rock to look more closely. He was still breathing, but unconscious and lightly shivering.

 _Maybe he’s cold. Or sick_ , Kylo thought. He couldn’t do much if Hux was freezing, as Kylo’s body was always regulated to the environment around him. And if he was unwell, Kylo had some remedies remembered that might do the trick, providing they worked on land dwellers. He gently tapped the man’s shoulder to rouse him, but other than a small fluttering of eyelids, nothing happened.

The more nothing happened, the more worried Kylo became. He tried whispering, talking, tapping and shaking, but to no avail. He even patted on the damaged skin, but all that came from Hux was a small exhale of breath.

In a last attempt to gain any sort of reaction from the other, Kylo changed his own position to lie on his back, propped up slightly by the smoothed-down rocks behind. It was painful, but it had to do. Then he took hold of Hux’s shoulders and put his back against Kylo’s chest.

He pushed the water container towards him with his fin first, next he plopped it into the seawater. The splash caused some of the water to spray on both of them, but it wasn’t enough. Kylo did it again, and again, sending water everywhere, making a huge ruckus as the caudal fin made impact.

This finally seemed to do the trick, as Kylo saw some more fluttering of eyes, as well as heard a few incoherent mumbles. He stopped splashing and took hold of the water container, uncorking it and passing the nozzle to Hux’s chapped lips.

“Wha-“ He heard the man croak.

“Hush,” Kylo didn’t want him straining himself so soon after he had first woken up, “Drink. It’s fresh water.”

Apparently the prospect of water had Hux immediately grappling for the container to down it, but Kylo held it tight so nothing spilled. the small amount that went down caused Hux to cough violently. With one hand holding the container, and the other keeping Hux steady against his chest, Kylo waited for the coughing to subside.

Hux took a couple of deep breaths when he was finally able to, then nodded towards the water in Kylo’s hand. He brought it to his lips and carefully tipped the container, letting a small stream enter Hux’s mouth.

As the water levels diminished, the man seemed to be getting more aware of himself and his surroundings. Hux grabbed the container from Kylo’s hand to wring out the last couple of drops. He sighed deeply when he was finished, then gave back the empty container to Kylo.

“More. Please. And some food,” Hux whispered, voice still raw.

“I caught some fish while you slept,” Kylo said, pointing at the pile beside them, “But they have gone bad. I also saw some – fruit, was it? – I saw some fruit in the trees on the mainland. I can bring them too, if you prefer.”

Kylo clearly remembered the colourful things hanging from the trees as he looked for water. While he spied on this particular human, he noticed him having a liking to fruit as opposed to the fish everyone else ate.

“If you would be so kind. I like the fruit here. Fish tastes… the same.” Hux wrinkled his nose at the foul smell starting to come from the rotting fish, but as he looked over, his words faltered.

Kylo eyed the fish, then back at Hux, trying to figure out what was wrong. He was about to ask, but noticed Hux wasn’t looking at the food. He was looking at him. Or rather: his _fin_.

_Oh._

 

__


	3. Not Human

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's where the mango tag comes in ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) 
> 
> Huge thanks to Phrixion for the beta work!

Not. Human. The man who saved Hux was  _ not human _ . He just couldn’t look away from the man’s –  _ creature’s _ – appendage.

For all intents and purposes, the stranger seemed human, if a little odd-looking, with moles scattered across his skin and a fascinatingly angular face, coupled with the long scar bisecting it. But below the waist laid what could only be described as something out of legend and myth.

Hux violently jerked away from the creature’s embrace, scooting back until he hit the alcove wall. He drew his knees close to his body, ready to kick and claw in case the thing came at him.

With this new angle, Hux was able to see the being’s entire body where he was still reclining on the rocks. He ignored the hurt look upon his face, and rather studied what was in front of his very eyes. The creature must’ve been 4 feet longer than any normal man, with jet-black scales that seemed to absorb all light. Despite the distance Hux could see that there were details of gold and deep red swirls that complimented the darks surrounding them.

This creature even had a pair of fins on either side of his hip; the thin spines jutted out of the body, held together by a translucent sheet of skin. By the look of the fish-man’s complex colouration, Hux assumed that the tips of these needles would most likely be poisonous.

The fingers of the creature were also longer than average, tipped with sharp claws and webbing in-between. And despite the dark lighting of the alcove, Hux saw pointed ears amidst the dark hair adorning his head.

Hux wanted to chalk this up to his ill state, but no matter how many times he tried to blink the image away, the thing remained very real in his eyes. He kept staring at the tail lazily moving around in the water below, and as if on cue, the fin turned up and bent towards his chest.

“You like?” the creature had the  _ audacity _ to smirk at Hux.

“No.” His voice was not at optimum levels, so he tried to inflict as much emphasis as possible in the whisper. Hux also vehemently refused to give any sort of compliment to a creature who would most likely eat him, given the chance.

He would not go out without a fight.

“You do,” he said nonchalantly, then picked up the leather flask, “I’ll get you more water, and some fruit.”

As the creature started pushing himself down to the water’s edge, he stopped and turned to Hux again, “Don’t leave.”

“I will,” he hissed back, “I have better luck with the sharks than you,  _ monster _ .”

“No sharks here,” he said as he slipped into the water, “There are strong waters outside, and sharp rocks everywhere. You will get hurt.”

Hux had no actual intention to go back in the ocean anytime soon, but if what the other said was true, he was now essentially imprisoned by a supposedly man-eating talking fish.

“So, I’m trapped,” Hux whispered to the retreating form.

“No. But yes,” came the reply before the creature ducked under the surface.

 

Hux wanted to be prepared for when the thing came back, but there wasn’t much he could defend himself with in the cave. He looked around for anything that could be used as a weapon, and managed to find a few sharp a jagged rocks in a dark corner. He hid them behind himself, then sat down to await the return of the creature.

As the minutes rolled by, Hux became painfully aware of just how hungry he was. The thirst had somewhat lessened, but still present. A sudden sneeze also told him that he had most likely caught a cold from the extreme changes that had happened to his body. Small shivers ran up and down his frame that he hadn’t noticed before, but couldn’t  _ not _ ignore now.

He sniffed to clear out his nose, then laid down on his side, curling in a tight ball and staring intently at the opening for when the other would arrive. Hux could’ve sworn he’d only closed his eyes for not more than a few seconds, but the unexpected  _ thunk _ of something landing beside him had his nearly jumping out of his skin.

It was leather flask that had so rudely awoken him. It was possibly filled with fresh water given the sound it made, so Hux had little reason to complain. He did, however, stare daggers at the creature floating in the water. He seemed to have had good use of Hux’s raft, filled to the brim with fruits of varying sizes. Some Hux could easily identify as mangoes and coconuts, but the smaller ones he had some difficulty naming.

Hux opened the flask and took a few careful sips. He had no idea as to how long he would be trapped in the alcove, or for when the creature’s hospitality would run out. He had to conserve what he got.

He was still eyeing the food on the raft when his stomach decided to make itself known. The creature smirked at Hux as the sound of an empty belly seemed to reverberate through the walls.

_ How humiliating. _

“Do you want some?” the other asked and held up a mango.

In any normal circumstance, Hux would be polite and ask kindly for it. But this was very much an  _ ab _ normal one, and he refused to be civil to a fish. Except; he was literally starving.

“Please,” he tried to convey as much hatred towards the other as possible in that one word.

The creature stretched out his arm towards Hux, the no-doubt supple mango enclosed in a clawed and webbed hand.

It was obvious that Hux was meant to close the last distance and take the mango, but if his suspicions were correct, he wouldn’t want to be any closer to that monster than he already was.

“No,” he told the creature, making him pause, “throw it to me.”

The smile on the other turned sour at the request.

“I will,” He said, but quickly pointed a claw in Hux’s direction, “ _ if _ you never call me monster again.”

“what am I supposed to call you, then?”

“My name.”

“Things like you have  _ names _ ?” Hux hadn’t meant for his voice to sound that shrill, but it did nonetheless at the new information.

The creature sighed heavily, then looked at Hux in a frighteningly manner, and hissed back “if you don’t treat me like one of your own, I will show you how much of a monster I  _ really _ am.”

That seemed to make Hux remember the situation he was in. There was no point in trying to pick fights with something much larger and stronger than him. He had to concede to the higher power if he wanted to make it out alive.

“What–,” he had to try again, as his voice had started to tremble, “What is your name?”

“Kylo,” the other replied, then gently placed the mango at the stone’s edge, and pushed it towards Hux.

The mango rolled slightly on the uneven terrain, and Hux caught it when it came within reach.

_ I suppose I have to be civil to a fish _ , Hux thought.

“Thank you. Kylo,” he tried the name. It felt foreign to his mouth, but he had to get used to it, lest he wanted to be subjected to the creature’s wrath.

“You’re welcome, Hux,” Kylo smiled, then proceeded to place the various foods from the plank over on the stone.

Hux turned the mango in his hand around, contemplating how to go about eating such a generally messy type of food without utensils or anything to clean himself off with after.

“I don’t suppose you have a knife or something to help me cut into this,” he thought aloud.

“I don’t,” said Kylo, “but I can open it for you.” He held up a clawed hand to reiterate.

“No. I don’t trust you yet,” the last part wasn’t really meant to be said, but Hux wanted to at least be of a neutral relationship with the other. And that meant that he had to be able to depend on the other to provide him with food and drink, as well as eventually another location when that time came.

Kylo didn’t seem to take offence, but grabbed another mango and jabbed his nail into it. He cut out a large chunk of meat, then held it out towards Hux.

_ To Hell with being refined. Or scared _ , Hux thought. If the creature was a man-eater, he would’ve killed Hux long ago.

_ Or maybe he’s trying to fatten you up,  _ came a small voice in the back of his head, but he ignored it for favour of finally eating after so long without.

Only by looking at the juicy flesh had his mouth watering, and Hux eagerly took the offering and bit down. The explosion of flavours hitting his tongue almost made him moan, but he managed to swallow it down along with the bite.

The slice of mango was gone within seconds, leaving nothing behind but for the skin and the sticky residue on Hux’s fingers and face. Before he had the opportunity to ask for more, another piece was thrusted in his direction.

He ate the second portion more slowly. Years out at sea with limited provisions meant that there were more than a few instances where Hux had gone hungry, opting to not eat so that his crew could. Whenever they reached land, he had gone straight for the local food there, and several times he’d accidentally overeaten and gotten ill.

They of course had the means to fish while away from land, but Hux never cared much for what the ocean brought on the table. It all tasted the same, whether he was in the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic, or the Pacific. He preferred what was grown locally, as the fruits and vegetables of the different countries tasted so much sweeter than in his England home.

While eating, Hux felt the sensation of eyes upon him. He looked over to see that Kylo was openly staring at him. He had cut out the rest of the mango in equal sizes and put them on the ground, skin down.

“Are you not going to eat?” Hux asked.

“I don’t eat fruit,” came the cryptic answer.

“What do you eat?”

“meat.”

That could mean any manner of things, but Hux thought better not to dwell on it. He ate the rest of the mango while taking swigs of water in-between from the flask, still trying to ignore the gaze from the creature.

When he had finished the last bite, Hux placed the skin in a neat pile beside the pit Kylo had placed a little way away, making a mental note to later somehow discard it somewhere it didn’t make a smelly mess in the alcove, along with the still-rotting fish.

He scooted to the edge and looked down upon the clear water. Hux couldn’t see his reflection in the dark, but he knew he looked like a mess; ginger hair standing in all directions and sunburned skin, as well as the beginnings of a full beard.

He pushed away the small insecurities of his outward appearance, instead opting to clean himself of the juices from the fruit. As he put his hands in the icy water, Hux immediately started to shiver again. Right. He was getting sick. He had almost forgotten about it while eating.

Kylo shifted slightly in the water as Hux gently washed his hands. Kylo had moved away so as not to get the sticky remains onto himself. Finished with his hands, Hux cupped some of the water to splash on his face. The chill was immediate in making him feel worse, but it had to be done.

Feeling marginally cleaner, Hux dried himself off on his shirt. Despite washing as gently as he could, he still felt the sting of having brushed against damaged skin. He moved about to lie back down, the short time he’d spent awake clearly had him exhausted again. He tried several positions, but everything either hurt, or was simply uncomfortable.

A small kick in frustration made Hux realize that he still had his boots on. They were mostly dry by this point, but he knew he could never voluntarily sleep with them on. He sat up to untie the laces, but the blistered and unused fingers wouldn’t cooperate with him.

Kylo suddenly appeared in Hux’s line of vision, clearly intrigued by what he was trying to do. He swam up to the stone any laid his forearms there, placing his head shortly after.

“What are you doing?”

“Untying my laces.”

“You’re struggling.”

he wanted to snap back at Kylo, but found he hadn’t the energy, so just a deep sigh escaped him before he said “yes.”

“Want me to help?”

Hux tried for a few more seconds but the frustration was building rapidly, so he thrusted one leg out to Kylo, nearly kicking him in that stupidly smug face. Kylo’s fin was probably resting on something underwater, since he easily gained a few inches of height, then took hold of Hux’s calf and looked at the laces.

“What– what do I do?” Kylo asked, obviously at a loss.

Hux pointed to one section of the knot, saying “pull this part up, then drag on this part.”

Kylo did as told, and soon later Hux’s boot was untied. To take a little more advantage of the other’s help, Hux asked for him to take off the boot as well, “Now, take hold of the back, by my heel, and drag it towards you.”

It was a little uncouth, but the creature managed to finally take off Hux’s boot. The trapped heat and water accumulated to a frankly awful smell, but he gave little thought to it, instead marvelling at the freedom.

Kylo turned up his nose at the stench, but didn’t say anything about it. He undid the other boot as well without prompting, then asked “What do I do with these?”, holding up the items as clarification.

“Just put them somewhere to dry,” Hux said as he undid the buttons on his trousers’ calf and taking off his stockings. He put his naked feet in the water to wash for a few seconds before the cold got to him. He took his feet out of the water again, then pushed back from the edge to lie down, closing his eyes and curling in on himself to ward off the chill.

Kylo had gone outside the cave with the boots, presumably to dry them off on top of the rocks. When he came back into view, he asked “Are you cold?”

Hux opened his eyes to look at the other, but whatever retort he had died in his throat as he stared at what the other was holding: a blanket. A  _ dry _ blanket, it seemed.

“Wha–  _ how _ do you have a dry blanket?”

“You were asleep for a long time. I found this fabric and dried it on the rocks,” Kylo said by way of explanation.

“But  _ where _ did you get it?”

“Your ship.”

“My ship.” Kylo had laid the blanket by Hux’s side, and by closer examination it looked very much like the ones that were on his frigate. Before it sank.

“Did you go to my ship and take this?” it was pretty obvious that Kylo had done it, but he asked nonetheless, before also adding “What else did you take?”

“I gathered many things. Among them, this– blanket you said?”

Hux wrapped himself in the blanket, feeling heat radiate from the sun-warmed fabric. He laid down again while muttering “when I wake up, we’re going to have a talk about boundaries.”

It was a harmless threat, but he felt it needed to be said.

“But thank you. For the blanket, that is.”

“You’re welcome, Hux.”


	4. Why

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally we get some answers!
> 
> Huge thanks to Phrixion for the beta work!

The first time was an accident, but soon as Hux’s name passed Kylo’s lips, he never wanted to stop. And so he did it again. Luckily, Hux was still ill and didn’t question why Kylo knew his name, despite never giving it in the first place.

Kylo had concocted an elixir and placed a few drops of it in the water while Hux was asleep. It might help in whatever it was that ailed the human. The tiny amount was by no means enough for a sick merperson, but he had no idea whether it would work or make everything worse.

As Hux now slept soundly, Kylo watched. Soon the day turned to dusk, as he looked for any signs of change. The shivers stopped soon after he wrapped himself in the blanket, but nothing negative seemed to happen. Deeming everything alright, he grabbed the container to refill the water.

 

Crawling back from the pond later, Kylo came to remember Hux’s damaged skin. There could possibly be something around to lend its aid in that situation. He had observed some of the paler humans coming to and from sea use the sap of a plant with thorns on their inflamed skin.

Quickly swimming back to the cave, Kylo placed the full container within easy reach of Hux, should he wake up while Kylo wasn’t around, then going back on land to explore anew. The dying light had little effect on Kylo’s ability to see, but crawling in the trees tired him out much more than the usual swim, and he found himself making mistakes: breaking branches and disturbing fruit. He was about to give up the search and go back to the cave when he made an error, causing him to slip and fall to the ground.

It would take much more than a simple fall to break bone, but Kylo still groaned in pain. He checked to see regardless of that fact, and noticed a cut on his belly. It was fortunately superficial; just another wound to later scar and join the others littering his body.

He of course had the means to get rid of them, but that felt like cheating. A body wasn’t meant to be flawless, and the proof of them showed the struggles said body had experienced.

Kylo rolled over onto his front to crawl back to the cave and get some sleep, when he saw it. It was the exact plant he’d seen the humans use, or if not it looked very much like it. He had somehow landed perfectly next to the plant without crushing it with his weight. The thorns were soft, and as he broke off a piece he saw the viscous fluid seep out.

Grabbing a handful of the stuff and quickly finding his way back to shore, Kylo felt triumphant for the successful find. He held the plant above water as he swam back to the cave in total darkness. Kylo placed it on the stone and snatched the rotting flesh and fruit remains to discard of before he went back again to rest before dawn came.

 

What awoke Kylo wasn’t the sun rising up to chase the shadows away. No, the morning was already there by the look of it. It was slightly unusual for him to wake up late, but given last night’s escapades, he didn’t really question it, though he couldn’t fathom what exactly had woken him up. Until it hit.

A pebble.

The tiny rock floated down the water, landing on his stomach. There were a few others lying on various parts of Kylo’s body. He looked up just in time for another stone to breach the surface and sail down onto his face. Above he could make out the blurred shape of Hux looking down at him.

Kylo rose up and put his arms on the flat stone where the human was sitting cross-legged.

“Good mo–“

“Don’t,” Hux interrupted, “Why do you know my name?”

Ah. He was looking much better than yesterday, and apparently did remember Kylo saying his name. Before he had the time to come up with a viable answer, Hux spoke up again.

“And where did you get the aloe?” He pointed to the plant Kylo had left there last night.

He didn’t want the other to get mad at him; Kylo has seen the brutal tone he used when the other land dwellers didn’t respect his authority. He had to tread carefully so as to not break the fragile trust he’s gained.

“There’s land close from here. With trees and fruit and fresh water. That’s where I got the plant from.”

“’Land’. You mean an island?”

“yes,” Hux looked hopeful at the prospect of another location, but Kylo felt he needed to stay in shadow a little longer. “I can’t take you there yet. You’re still healing.”

“I’m  _ fine _ ,” Hux said.

“Yes. But your skin,” Kylo tried to explain that the high sun would just cause more damage out in the open.

Hux looked at his exposed arms, then sighed heavily, “I suppose that is why you brought the aloe plant.”

Kylo nodded back. Hux grabbed one stem of said plant and broke off the dried end before squeezing out some of the sap into an open palm. He carefully lathered some of it on the more blistered areas.

“I’ll ask again: why do you know my name?” Hux looked sternly at Kylo for a moment before continuing, “don’t lie. You said ‘Hux’ yesterday.”

“I’ve been watching you.” The other looked scandalized by that notion. “I have been here a long time, and you’re very easy to spot.” Kylo pointed at Hux’s bright hair to clarify, “all the other humans have dark hair, and you’re loud sometimes.”

Hux was silent for a while. He kept breaking off pieces of the plant to place on himself, and the pleasant smell filled the air around them.

“Besides the fact that you have been spying on me; why  _ me _ , exactly?”

“You’re interesting,” Kylo answered truthfully. Hux  _ was _ interesting.

“What?” He was done lathering the fluid, and now Kylo had Hux’s full attention.

“You know things. I’ve heard you speak to other land dwellers, and you  _ know _ what to do and say. And everyone listens. I listen. I’ve talked to humans enough to know the language, but no-one can give me answers I want.

You go out at sea, even though you can’t swim well. And you use strange things to help with travel, like the boats, the compass, the maps. You wear clothes to shield from nature. And you fight with your own kind, but I don’t know  _ why _ . You use loud pistols and cannons and swords, just to kill, and I  _ need to know the reasons _ !”

Kylo was yelling by the end, flailing his arms in frustration at all the unknowns he wanted solutions to. Hux just sat quietly through the whole charade.

“Is this why you saved me?” he asked quietly.

Kylo was panting as that was the most he’d ever said. “Yes.”

He got a nod from the man in return. “Okay. I will answer your questions, if you answer mine.”

“You have questions?” That was new. Kylo had never revealed himself to a human other than just before killing and eating them. His kind wasn’t really a secret; they just never bothered to converse with anyone. “About me?” he asked, just to be sure.

“Yes,” Hux told him, “Let’s go one question at a time. You ask, then I, then you again. Sound fair?”

Kylo felt absolutely giddy at finally getting to know more about the land dwellers’ world, as well as intrigued by Hux being fascinated by his. He had to think for a moment before speaking up again, “Why do you travel across oceans?”

“We, as a species, are naturally curious. So, we travel far to discover and document new land and animals,” Hux said. “if we could breathe underwater, or fly, we would undoubtedly do just that just so we could know more.”

Humans and Kylo weren’t so different in that endeavour, apparently. He nodded to Hux for the satisfactory explanation, then waited for Hux to ask his.

“How many of you are there? Your kind, specifically.”

“Not many. I’ve only met a few mers outside my family, and I left them long ago. Haven’t seen any of my own kind in these waters, so I guess I’m the only one here.”

“’Mer’. That is what you call yourselves?” Hux was breaking his own rule, but Kylo let it go in favour of the interested gaze the other held for him.

“In your tongue, yes. I can’t say what we call ourselves above water; it’s not a pleasant sound for your ears. Why do you fight? Or maybe,  _ who _ do you fight?”

Hux looked quizzically at Kylo for a moment, “You don’t know about borders or countries, do you?”

Kylo shook his head.

“Hmm. Well, I am English, which incidentally is the language we speak right now. You see, humans live vastly different from each other, so we have developed other meanings and understandings ranging from where we are born. I come from an island called Great Britain, a country – which is sort of like a territory – where we have disagreements and fights with countries like France and Spain over which territory is who’s.”

Hux spoke in great length and detail about the different reasons why humans fought with each other. Kylo was completely enthralled by all of it, soaking up each and every word. At one point in the monologue, he got up from the water to lie down on the stone next to Hux, whom had moved slightly to give space for his long body.

 

“– The Caribbean, which is where  _ we _ are, and why pirates try to destroy everything that each of us have built, for their own selfish gains,” Hux finished, drinking up the last of the water. He had grabbed the container somewhere in-between the talking, and by the end of his explanation, it was fittingly empty.

Kylo took hold of the empty container, saying “I’ll fill this up while you think of your question.”

When he came back, Hux had a sombre look upon his face. The smile that Kylo wore throughout their conversation quickly fell to match the human’s.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just thought of something,” Hux said quietly, “and I think it has something to do with you.”

Kylo swam up to him, placed the filled container in the other’s lap, then waited for Hux to continue.

“There has been this rumour,” he told him, “about a man-eater in the waters around Nassau. The natives told my crew about a man with a sweet voice, asking innocent questions to anyone daring enough to wander around the ports at night. Then, without preamble, he would drag them down into the depths, never to be seen again. My men rightly didn’t believe it, as did I.” Hux didn’t look in Kylo’s direction while speaking. He was gazing at the water below, lazily circling his feet underneath the surface.

“But now,” Hux suddenly stared directly into Kylo’s eyes, “I’m not so sure.”

Kylo thought he was careful, truly believed nobody would have seen him talking to the land dwellers; that he wouldn’t be hunted if they found out he lived so close by (he had observed them for long enough to know they feared and attacked the unknown). It now seemed he was wrong.

He didn’t know what to say. Fortunately for him, Hux asked a question simple enough for him to reply to: “Kylo, do you plan on eating me?”

Hux was holding something, hidden between his fingers. Kylo couldn’t see exactly what it was, but his assumption was that it must’ve been a small weapon of sorts. Possibly intended for him if he didn’t give an answer Hux was satisfied with. He had to tread carefully.

“I–,” He hesitated for a moment as Hux’s grip on the item tightened, “I thought about it.”

It pained him to say it, but he  _ needed _ to explain quickly before everything was ruined.

“I’m sorry, but I did think about killing you, after. But not anymore. I– I like talking to you, and I don’t want it to end. I’m sorry.”

Hux loosened his grasp, and what appeared to be a sharp rock fell between his fingers, landing in the water with a small  _ plop _ . Kylo pushed out his caudal fin, catching it and pushing it towards him. He took hold of the stone, holding it above the water and looked. It appeared harmless, but with enough force, or desperation, it could easily pierce through his flesh.

“Thank you, Kylo. For telling me the truth,” Hux whispered.

Kylo nodded in acknowledgment; it didn’t feel right to say anything. The tension between them was heavy, so Kylo floated to the other side of the cave, leaving enough space for the two of them to think about what had transpired, both the good, and the bad.

They stayed silent for some time. As the sun started to set, casting dark shadows throughout the cave, Kylo hesitantly spoke up, “I can take you to the island now, if you want.”

“I would like that,” Hux replied, gazing out the opening.

Kylo swam in front of Hux, arms open, “Come in the water.”

Hux did as told and slipped into the water, shivering slightly at the cold.

“Now, put your arms around my neck, and I’ll bring you there.”

Kylo turned around so the other could put his arms around him. The added weight was a little difficult to move around with, but it had to do. There was a sharp current right outside the cave’s opening, as well as spiky rocks underneath, so he had go slow. It wouldn’t do well for either of them if Hux lost his grip.

The fast-approaching darkness provided the perfect opportunity for Hux’s healing skin to be out and about. Kylo stopped when his chest nearly touched the sandy ground below, and Hux climbed off to walk the rest of the way to dry land.

“I made a path to the place where there’s fresh water for you,” Kylo told him.

“I can see that. Would you kindly bring me the flask from the alcove?” Hux asked, “and my blanket, please,” he added as an afterthought.

“Sure.”

Kylo swam back and fetched the items, keeping the flask in his mouth and holding the bunched-up blanket above water. Hux was already walking further away, moving between the trees and looking around. The image caused a small ache in Kylo’s chest, but he knew the other couldn’t go far.

He threw the items onto the dry part of the sand stretching across half of the island, then crawled up and laid down, watching Hux disappear between the scenery. Kylo closed his eyes and dozed off.

 

After a while, he heard some rustling. It was pitch black, though he could see Hux breaking off large leaves from the trees and placing it on the ground.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m making a bed to sleep on for the night,” Hux answered. “The sun goes up there, right?” he pointed to one direction.

“Yes.”

“Perfect. Then I won’t be too exposed here,” he told him.

Hux walked towards Kylo, picked up the flask and the blanket, then stopped. He was openly staring at Kylo’s lower half.

“It’s still so strange to look at that.”

“My tail?”

“Yes.”

It didn’t sound like Hux was repulsed by it, and, if Kylo was being honest with himself, he enjoyed the human’s attention. He flexed and curled his tail a little, preening under Hux’s watchful gaze.

It looked like Hux was about to say something, but seemed to rethink. “Where did you find the aloe plant?” he asked instead.

Kylo pointed in the direction, saying “that way. Not far. You’ll see some broken branches around the place I found it. There should be more there.”

“Thank you, Kylo.”

Before Hux walked in said direction, Kylo spoke up, “I’ll go sleep in the cave. See you tomorrow.”

“Sure,” Hux gave small frown, but the next moment, it was gone. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Good night, Kylo.”

“Good night, Hux.”


	5. It Would Do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the late chapter update (vacation with slow-ass internet)
> 
> To make up for it, this chapter's the start of the Explicit tag ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)  
> Although what Hux does to Kylo here is consensual to both parties, they are pretty drunk. But nothing goes further than a sloppy make-out session and some exploratory fondling. 
> 
> Huge thanks to Phrixion for the beta work!

The dawn of a new day came slowly, sending away the chill of last night. Hux was already up, walking around and exploring the island. He had lathered himself with more of the aloe vera and picked up some mangoes, carefully placed in a neat pile by his makeshift bed, before he went around the area.

It was of a decent size; a couple hundred metres in diameter, and had ample vegetation, as well as different kinds of fruits and the water Kylo told him about. None of this was perfect; far from it, but it had to do. He would survive. He couldn’t come up with a viable plan for rescue, and if he thought any more about his situation, it would only make him angry.

Plus, Kylo had been gracious and kind. He had saved him from death’s door, and for that, Hux was truly grateful. Their relationship was a little strained after Hux’s last question yesterday, but he had – _needed_ – to know. Hopefully this new morning could provide them fresh opportunities to get to know each other more.

Hux had many questions regarding Kylo’s species. He was also very much intrigued; he even almost asked Kylo if he could touch him. Hux restrained himself at the last second, but the desire to feel the other’s scales still lingered in his mind through the night.

That urge had never happened before. In all his years Hux had _never_ felt a need to touch anybody else, let alone a _man_. It was simply unheard of. He wanted to chalk this up to his delirious state, but he felt fine now. Granted, the sunburn was still there, though slowly starting to fade away. The food and drink also had a hand in his fast recovery, so Hux couldn’t fathom exactly why he was so intrigued by the creature.

Being alone and bored could be an acceptable excuse, but now that he was on this island, he had several things mentally written down for him to do. Most of it did require tools, so Hux hoped Kylo would wake up soon enough that he could start on them.

As if just thinking about him: Kylo appeared. Hux was sitting down by his bed in the shade, peeling off the skin of a mango and taking a couple of messy bites. It was uncouth, but Hux had no other option, and he was hungry.

Kylo made his way over to Hux, crawling while swinging his tail back and forth. It was mesmerising.

“Good morning,” Kylo smiled in greeting.

“Good morning. I have a few plans to make this place more habitable. For those plans to come to fruition, I will need some tools.” There was no use delaying things, so Hux jumped right into it.

“Are you going to build something?”

“Yes,” Hux answered back, “now, tell me which of these words sound unfamiliar; I need a knife, an axe, some rope, and a tinderbox.”

Kylo was silent as Hux summed up what he needed. By the end he said “I know of all of them, except ‘tinderbox’. What’s that?”

Hux picked up a stick and walked to where the patch of sand started, making a simple drawing of what a tinderbox looked like.

“It’s a small metal box – about this big - containing a rock, a piece of metal, and some cotton. Do you understand?”

All Kylo said was “oh!” before dashing away and into the sea. Hux watched him leave, at a loss for what just happened. Kylo was gone for not more than a minute, quickly crawling up from the water again while holding something in his hand.

Hux closed the distance when he recognised the familiar shape of the tinderbox that had been on his man o’ war. He crouched down to Kylo’s height and grasped the box. Hux was about to thank him, but Kylo spoke up first, “that was one of the things I took from your ship. The wreck is pretty far away, but I can swim there and try to find the other things you need.”

Hux thanked him profusely, as this could help him in starting a small bonfire. Although it had clearly been underwater for some time, the flint and steel could easily set aflame dried leaves if he found some. Kylo went back into the ocean. Hux didn’t get a time estimate, but what good would that do, as he didn’t have a watch. He was also a little unsure of whether Kylo even _could_ tell the time.

 

While Kylo was gone, Hux took out the contents of the tinderbox and laid the cotton to dry  and pocketing the flint and steel. He walked around the island and found a handful of dried leaves. He also picked up all the discarded sticks he could find, and placed everything in a hole he dug on the beach; leaves first, then the sticks over.

It wouldn’t do any good to waste resources now and light a fire, seeing as he wasn’t cold, or had any food that needed to be grilled. All Hux could do at the moment was just to sit back and wait for Kylo.

He decided to put on some more aloe to kill time, but as he found the plant he noticed that the skin of his arms were very nearly healed; only a bit of redness remained. By his own painful experience, the sunburn should have lasted a week more, _at least_. It didn’t make sense for it to be almost gone in just a few days.

 _Kylo must’ve done something,_ was Hux’s immediate thought, though it surely wasn’t a _bad_ thing, per se. Just a little unsettling that the creature was maybe able to do magic, however insane that notion was. He ate and drank some more, then laid back on his bed to rest for some time. The sun trailed high in the skies as Hux fell asleep to the calming sounds of the waves.

 

Without warning, something made a _thud_ close by. Hux was awake and alert within seconds. He looked in the direction of where that sound could’ve come from, and saw the wooded end of what appeared to be an axe, slowly falling down on its side with the help of gravity. A few moments later, Kylo emerged from the sea, several lengths of rope around one shoulder and the sheathed knife in his mouth.

He spat of the knife and threw it beside the axe, then made his way further onto the beach. Hux was already by Kylo’s side and helped him get out of the rope around him.

“I found the things you asked for, Hux!” Kylo had a goofy grin plastered on his face.

“I can see that. Thank you very much.”

Kylo looked over to the firepit Hux had made in his absence.

“What are you going to build?” he asked.

“I want to make some sort of shelter, in case bad weather approaches,” Hux told him.

Hux picked up the axe and knife, and walked into the trees. He had seen a few bent palm trees in which he could use the large leaves as a roof. There were also low-hanging sturdy branches scattered around the island. Hux would never have the strength to actually chop down an entire tree, so the branches would do for load bearing in the type of shelter he had in mind.

As he worked, Hux glimpsed a few times in Kylo’s direction, making sure that he was still there. Kylo had moved back a little, so the seawater lapped at his lower body while the upper part was dry. And he was paying attention. Very close attention.

Hux wanted to snap at him that the staring was uncomfortable while he was working. But it wasn’t uncomfortable. It actually felt nice to be the subject of Kylo’s attention. The creature was so enthralled by every little thing he did, and the gaze of wonderment didn’t seem to lessen. So he let him be. It wasn’t as if Kylo was hindering his work, since he stayed silent and just observed what he did.

Throughout the day Hux gathered materials and set up his shelter. He whittled the branches as straight as he could, then jabbed the two thickest into the ground, connecting the ends to a third stick across with some rope. He placed the fourth and fifth diagonally down to the ground. Between them Hux bound several shorter branches to act as a roof where he could entwine the palm leaves.

The sun had started to set, painting everything orange, but Hux was done. It admittedly looked a little crude, but it would do. It also didn’t have any walls, but Hux could make those at a later point; he was exhausted. And Hungry.

He looked upon the fruits of his labour, and practically on cue, he heard Kylo clapping from behind.

“It looks great!” he exclaimed from the water.

“Thank you. Say, Kylo, could you catch me some fish? I’d like to start a fire and fry up some, if you wouldn’t mind.” He wanted some warm food, as well as some heat and light to drive away the chilly air and increasing darkness.

“Sure,” Kylo said, “But don’t make a fire yet. I want to see how you do it.”

“Of course,” Hux sat down underneath his lean-to shelter and watched Kylo disappear underneath the waves. It didn’t take long, however, as about 10 minutes later, Kylo emerged again with three fat fish. He was careful to not get any sand on them as he made his way up the shore. Hux walked over to take hold of the still-twitching fish.

“That was fast,” he couldn’t help but comment.

“I’m very quick,” Kylo smirked.

Hux placed the fish on the leftover palm leaves and sat down by the firepit. Kylo followed then lied down beside him. Hux took out the flint and steel he had pocketed earlier, and held them close to the dried leaves at the bottom.

“Now, these two struck against one another will create sparks, which in turn will ignite the dried leaves here,” he narrated as he did the act. It didn’t work the first couple of times, but soon enough he had some smoke building, which he shielded and carefully blew on. A few minutes more, and the fire stayed strong enough for Hux to move away and start preparing the fish.

Even though Hux wasn’t experienced in gutting fish, he knew the basic mechanics. He took hold of the knife and sliced open the fronts of the fish, then drew out all the innards and gills. After descaling all three, he walked over to the sea and quickly rinsed them off.

He placed the fish back on the leaf, away from the guts, then went about whittling a few skewers.

“Hux, what are you going to do with these?” Kylo suddenly asked, pointing towards the discarded intestines.  

“Those are of no use to me. Why?”

In lieu of an answer, Kylo picked up a piece and ate it. Hux’s immediate thought was _that’s disgusting, Kylo! Spit it out_ , but given that Kylo wasn’t exactly human, he refrained from making a spectacle of it. He ignored the other eating the entrails as Hux speared a fish and stabbed the end into the ground, leaving it hanging over the flames.

 

As darkness fell and the only light were the fire and twinkling stars, Hux felt happy. Nothing about his situation was optimal, but he did the best he could and, with Kylo’s help, he now had warm food, fresh water, shelter, and somebody to talk to. He ate in silence as he looked out over the vast blackness surrounding them. Although this felt nice, he felt that there was something missing, something that wouldn’t be easy (or maybe even possible) to acquire.

“I wish we had some brandy to celebrate this occasion,” Hux thought aloud.

“Hmm,” Kylo hummed, “how so?”

“I’m on an island, I have food, shelter, good company, and no obligations. I just think a glass of brandy would be nice to top it all off with.”

Kylo didn’t say anything back. It wasn’t necessarily a wish disguised to be a request for the other to go back to his ship and see if his stash had survived the wreckage. Just something that was on his mind.

Hux finished picking the last morsels of meat from the bones of fish number two, then turned to Kylo to ask if he wanted the last one, when he saw a broad smile planted on his face.

“What? Why’re you smiling like that?”

“Because I have a surprise,” Kylo answered.

He watched in puzzlement as Kylo crawled down to the ocean. He didn’t go far, just a few metres before coming back up again. While holding something. Something _very_ familiar.

“Kylo,” Hux said as the creature returned to the same spot beside him, “did you _actually_ find an unbroken bottle of my brandy? And bring it here?!”

Kylo still had a giant grin plastered on his face, showing off his sharp teeth, “I’ve seen you humans drink this stuff for even the smallest of celebrations. I was thinking we could have use for some festivities. Plus, I’ve never tasted it and I’m curious.”

Hux took hold of the neck and looked at the label wistfully. It definitely was a bottle from his ship’s private quarters: a frankly excellent (and expensive) bottle of Dutch brandy.

“You, are a saint,” he smiled warmly, “Hopefully no water’s gone inside and spoiled the alcohol.” Hux bit down on the cork trapping the amber liquid inside, and yanked it out. The aromatic smell wafted into Hux’s nose and he inhaled deeply. It was _perfect_.

It would be preferable to have a glass at hand instead of drinking straight from the bottle, but Hux didn’t rightly care at the moment. He drank a mouthful from the spout, then handed it to Kylo.

“Now be careful. It’s quite strong, and may taste bad to you,” he warned.

Kylo clearly took caution. He wrinkled his nose slightly at the smell, but took a small sip of it. And immediately started coughing.

“It burns!” he said in-between coughs.

Hux couldn’t help but laugh heartily as he took back the bottle and drank more, while handing Kylo his water flask to help subside the retching. “Of course it burns. You get used to it though.”

Hux also gave him the last fish, which he promptly ate. They sat in comfortable silence as Hux took hefty swigs and Kylo tiny sips of the brandy.

As the liquid filled his spirits, Hux summoned enough courage to be able to ask the other what would be rather personal questions. Though he started small first.

“hey, how are you able to breathe above water? And below as well.”

Kylo thought for a moment before answering. “I haven’t actually seen the inside of a mer, but my guess is that I have lungs like you, but also gills, like a fish. Right here,” he said, then pushed away his locks to show his neck. There were three long slits going diagonally down both sides of his throat. “I keep them closed when I’m on land.”

“Interesting. Are you doing it consciously?”

“Not really. But I don’t actively sleep above water in case I open them.”

“And what about these spines,” Hux asked and pointed to the long jutting fins on either side of what would be the hip of a human. “From what I’ve gathered, your colouration and those fins have the resemblance of an exotic fish. Are they venomous, is what I’m asking.”

“I don’t think so? I’ve never really used them to attack anything. Just for swimming.”

Hux took a few gulps of the brandy as he mulled over Kylo’s answer. If he wasn’t sure that the spikes were dangerous – other than looking awfully sharp – he didn’t want to risk touching them in case his assumptions were correct. But he very much _wanted_ to touch. He wanted to feel if Kylo had the scales similar to a fish, or that of a snake, or maybe something completely unique.

“And your kind, do they all look the same? Like, do they have spikes as well, or other colours, or what?” His sentences had started to feel the effect of the alcohol. The bottle was half-empty by this point, and his linguistic skills were slowly deteriorating.

Kylo luckily didn’t catch on, or he was in the same drunken boat. “My family aren’t black and red like me, and some of them have these kinds of sharp spikes. But mostly they don’t: only have normal fins.”

The world had started to slightly spin, so Hux laid down as he said “So you’re unique. One-of-a-kind.”

Kylo also laid down beside him, almost touching shoulder to shoulder. _but not quite_ , he thought.

He abruptly sat up again and looked down at Kylo. Or at least _tried_ to. He was seeing double. _Two-of-a-kind_ came to mind, and he snorted a laugh. He quickly composed himself, then asked what had plagued his thoughts for days now.

“Can I touch you? I want to feel how your tail is.”

Kylo stretched out his full length, placing his hands behind his head, “Sure. Go ahead.”

Absolutely giddy with excitement, Hux scooted down a bit and placed an open palm on what would be his thigh. The sensation was otherworldly. There was no other explanation. It felt like the skin of a snake as he stroked with the scales, but when he went against them, the hard shells caught on his skin. On the side closest to the still-roaring fire, the heat was reflected, feeling warm to the touch. But as he placed another palm on the other side, the scales were wonderfully cold.

Kylo was also dry, but it didn’t seem like that was a problem. There was no slippery residue left on his hands, like what an actual fish gave off. It was just so strange. And the _muscles_. Hux could feel the strength hidden beneath the skin. His fingers wandered to the spiny fins, carefully bending them to make sense of the elasticity, as well as the translucent film between.

Kylo didn’t say anything, just silently observed Hux as he petted his tail up and down. Something caught his eye through. There was a long singular slit going down a few centimetres below the start of the scales. Hux poked and stroked at it bemusedly.

“Kylo, wha’s this?” Hux slurred, “Looks like a scar.”

Curious, Hux splayed two fingers on each side. He stretched them, opening up the slit a tiny bit. The inside was slightly moist. Kylo made a hitched moan as Hux carefully touched the inside, but then stopped. “Oh sorry. Does it hurt?”

Kylo swallowed another moan and said “No. I– it’s my genitals.”

 _Huh?_ “Huh? Wha’s that supposed to mean?”

“That’s where my– my genitals are. Inside there.”

“Your… genitals,” Hux parroted. “Y’mean that that’s where your cock and bollocks are.”

Kylo nodded back as he changed between staring at where his hands were and his face. Hux laughed loudly as the meaning of the words sank in. “That’s brilliant! Keep ‘em hidden away so nobody could kick ya in the balls.”

Hux chuckled some more as he stroked the slit up and down a couple of times, then removed his fingers entirely. He noticed that they were slightly sticky. Kylo rose up so that they were at eye level. He had the hint of a flush showing on his cheeks. It was cute.

“Hi,” Hux grinned.

“Hux, can I ask you of somethin’?”

The grins started to hurt, but Hux couldn’t stop smiling. Everything just felt _so nice_. “Sure! I asked you a lot.”

“I’ve seen you people kiss each other when you like ‘em, and I was just wonderin’ if I could do that to you? ‘Cus I like you.” Kylo said, blushing harder with each word.

“Y’wanna kiss me?” He tried to clarify. Before Kylo said or did anything else, Hux dove in. Teeth clashed painfully together, but he didn’t care. The fishy and alcoholic taste of Kylo’s open mouth felt too nice to worry about any resulting pain.

Kylo put his hands on Hux’s shoulders, steadying him as they kissed heavily. But suddenly Kylo’s mouth was gone, though he felt a long trail of saliva run up the bridge of his nose and forehead. What a weird custom. Hux leaned over and promptly fell onto Kylo’s lap, giggling as everything went dark.

“Aw, the fire went out.”

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tiny bit of porn here; lots more to come :D  
> Also angst... so much angst.
> 
> Huge thanks to Phrixion for the beta work!

Kylo looked down in confusion at the man snoring in his lap. They had just shared their first kiss, but Kylo wanted more. So much more. The arousal was still coursing through his veins, but there wasn’t much he could do with that at the moment.

“Hux?” he tried. He received no answer but for the continuous sound of the other’s snores.

Hux was fast asleep, and moving him off of his lap yielded no response. It was probably time for Kylo to go to sleep too, given that it was the middle of the night. He could try again in the morning.

Moving Hux to his new shelter was a feat Kylo didn’t want a repeat of. He was _heavy_. And Kylo’s limbs didn’t cooperate fully in his hazy state. He did manage it in the end, dragging the unconscious man underneath the slanted ceiling.

He didn’t leave right away, though. Hux would surely freeze this far away from the fire, so Kylo crawled over to the treeline where his blanket was, then back again and covered him in it. Despite his body demanding both sleep and release, Kylo looked down at Hux for a while.

Kylo wasn’t the one-of-a-kind. Hux was. He was truly something else. Hair like the dwindling fire, lean physique but not entirely without muscle, and the intelligence and wit Kylo had never before experienced. He would be the perfect mate. Kylo willed the time to go faster so that Hux could wake up. He wanted him to be his mate. Kylo would _prove_ to Hux how good of a mate he could be for the human.

With a tired yawn he reluctantly went back into the water. Before ducking under, Kylo whispered “good night, Hux.”

In the bottom of the cave he curled up to rest, but the insistent arousal was still there. Kylo stretched out a bit and palmed his slit. Soon enough, it opened wider for the two cocks to emerge. It didn’t take long for them to fully engorge as Kylo worked his hands up and down. It had been too long since he last touched himself, what with everything that had happened. The slick sensation sent shivers down his spine.

He thumbed the head of one while the other hand squeezed from base to tip on the other. The alcohol seemed to amplify every brush and stroke. It felt heavenly. Kylo just wished Hux was there to enjoy this with him. Just thinking of the man had Kylo going faster.

Within minutes of frantically stroking his cocks, Kylo came with a high-pitched keen. The ejaculate floated softly before quickly being diluted and disappearing. He waved his hand absentmindedly to speed up the process.

Sleep came quickly afterwards while Kylo thought of the ways he could woo Hux.

He would do anything to have the man. Forever.

 

The next morning Kylo went to the beach where Hux was still sleeping. He laid down next to the man and gently said “Good morning, Hux.”

That earned him a weak slap on his chest, followed by a groan.

“Wake up. I want to tell you something.”

“Don’t,” was the grumbled reply.

“Are you sick?” Kylo asked. Maybe the alcohol had made him ill: He looked a little paler than usual.

“No. I’m hungover.” Hux didn’t open his eyes, but instead turned away, facing his back to Kylo.

“What’s ‘hungover’?”

“It means shut up.”

 _That was rude_. Hux luckily explained himself a few moments later, “Too much alcohol makes people sick for a few hours. Lemme sleep it off in silence. Bring my water though.”

Kylo crawled over to the flask by the ashy remains of yesterday’s fire. It was near empty, so Kylo went over to the pond and filled it up again. He placed the flask within easy reach for Hux, then shuffled back into the ocean.

He could place a few more drops of the elixir in the water, but Hux’s foul mood had left a bitter taste in his mouth. Kylo wanted to make his affections towards the man known _now_ , but since Hux didn’t want any disturbance, Kylo felt it fitting to let him suffer for a few hours.

 _Although_ , ‘a few hours’ didn’t mean much to him. Kylo didn’t particularly care for the system of timekeeping the humans relied on; day and night was a much better method.

Kylo swam aimlessly around to pass the time. When he got bored, he went back into the cave and looked at the loot he brought form Hux’s ship. Some of them he knew what was, like the coins, pistols, sword, and a pocket watch. Other ones he still didn’t know the name or usage of. Kylo had used the blanket he gave Hux as a container to carry everything in, but since he didn’t have that anymore, carrying items to the island took a few rounds to do.

He threw everything onto the beach in favour of crawling to and from the water. He aimed the items further way from Hux’s shelter so as to not accidentally hit him, as well as trying to make little sound. Luckily none of the things made much noise, or clanged together where they landed.

Hux still hadn’t moved from where he was lying. It seemed that he still needed more time to recover. Kylo swam down to the ocean floor and swirled his nails around in the sand as his mind wandered off.

Merpeople naturally had their ways of showing affection and mating. Kylo was still pretty young when he left, but he knew the basics. Humans probably had their own ways, but most of the time he didn’t understand what exactly was a mating call or just a sign of friendliness. The kissing he could grasp, but only saw males and females do that. Seeing as how eagerly Hux kissed him last night the same could potentially be said for two males.

But anything more regarding courtship between humans was a complete mystery. It wasn’t necessarily something that Kylo would want to know more of, but after meeting Hux he sorely wished he had paid more attention.

Since Kylo had no basis other than the kissing, the only other option to woo the man was from a mer’s point of view. And that meant he needed to gift him something. Something that would mean a lot to Hux. _But what?_

The bottle of brandy was a nice sentiment, but Kylo only gifted that for celebration. And given Hux’s terrible state today, he shouldn’t be given more. Taking another trip to the wreckage would of course take some time, but Hux was still resting, and the possibility of finding something worthy of Hux’s affection outweighed the distance of the tiresome journey.

 

The sunken remains of Hux’s ship was almost invisible in the dark trenches of the ocean, nestled sweetly beside a boulder half the size of it. If it wasn’t for Kylo knowing exactly where it went down, he would’ve never found it. Nature hadn’t yet taken over, but algae was starting to show in some places, as well as a fair amount of barnacles.

He went through the gaping hole at the top and explored his surroundings. There was only a school of fish meeting him, which quickly dispersed as he swam around. Kylo had never seen the inside of a ship in action, but by his assumption he was in the sleeping quarters of the rest of the men who were aboard.

The previous instances he was here, he didn’t have enough time to explore: the first time he only grabbed a few of the most interesting things he could find before frantically searching for Hux, and the second he was on a mission to only find some tools. It was pure luck that he found the bottle while searching.

Now though, he went around all the different rooms, opening every chest and cupboard he came across. He found another undamaged blanket with which the tied all the corners to each other. The items he found within the ship were mostly clothes, the odd boot, some more swords, and not much more. Even further down into the bowels of the vessel were only barrels and spoiled food.

Kylo gave up the search where he was; Hux had no use of his crew’s possessions. He swam back up and into the open, then made a beeline towards the room on deck in the back of the ship: the place Kylo had found the brandy. Hux evidently knew that the bottle was _his_ , which could only mean that that room was _also_ his.

The inside housed a long table with chairs, some books, and some uninteresting trinkets. He looked some more, but nothing stood out to him. There was nothing important here. Frustration weighed heavily as Kylo swam back out. He let go of the blanket and watched it float away.

he was just about to swim back when something suddenly caught his eye. Looking back down on the top deck there was a piece of fabric that seemed awfully familiar, wedged between some broken boards. He took hold of the remains of the steering wheel and pushed himself closer. Both recognition and joy soared in his chest at what he was inspecting.

_Hux’s coat._

Before they officially met each other, Kylo never saw Hux without this dark blue and shimmering gold layer, billowing as he strode around. It was just as much a trademark as his fiery hair and commanding voice. He of course had not actual use for it now, but maybe receiving the coat – nearly unblemished to boot – would be the perfect symbolic gesture.

Kylo carefully broke off the wood trapping the fabric, then balled it up. Above the surface he noticed that the sun had already reached its peak. He had apparently been in the ship longer than he thought. He swam back to the island as fast as he possibly could, maybe even breaking a personal record.

Not wanting to spoil the surprise, he hid himself on the other side of the cave’s opening. If Hux was finally awake and walking around, he wouldn’t be able to see Kylo. He placed the coat atop the sun-warm rock, mindful of how much the water rose and fell so as to not having it dry only halfway. Now all he needed to do was to keep it secret until the time was right.

He swam back to the beach underneath the surface, then breached, pretending that that was the way he originally came from.

Hux was sitting upright underneath his shelter. He had found a flat stone he used as a surface to chop something with the knife. Kylo crawled up to him to inspect closer.

“Are you feeling better?” he cautiously asked, not wanting to ire the other if that wasn’t the case. Especially when the human wielded a sharp object.

“Much better. My apologies for barking at you this morning. I shouldn’t have drank that much.” Hux gave him a small smile, which he returned.

“What are you cutting?” The man seemed to only chop up the top of a fruit. Kylo recognised it to be one of the foods he’d brought to him when they both were in the cave, though he didn’t know the name of it.

“It’s a coconut,” Hux replied. “The inside of it is filled with water, so I’m trying to open it carefully to not spill anything.”

He chipped off more pieces until a tiny opening appeared. Hux tipped back the coconut, and Kylo saw his throat bobbing as he drank.

“Would you like some?”

Hux handed him the coconut. He sniffed it tentatively to determine if it was alcoholic, but the smell wasn’t foul, so he tasted a small amount. It wasn’t _bad_ , per se, just different. He gave it back and said “the water tastes weird.”

Hux huffed a laugh, “it’s not _really_ water, it’s just called that.”

He drank the rest before cutting the entire fruit into smaller sections, then eating them.

“I see you’ve lumped up some more knickknacks from my ship.”

“Oh!” Kylo had completely forgotten he did that earlier, “yes, I wanted to know what they’re for.” The items had been moved when he looked over: they were now much closer to the two of them.

He shuffled over and pushed away the ones he knew of, then picked up a golden triangular device. “what’s this?”

“That’s a sextant. You see though that hole there to navigate your way during the night. It measures the angle between stars and the horizon.” It sounded complicated, and Kylo didn’t understand all of it. He mentally noted down to ask about it further at a later point.

“and this?”

“heh, it’s a candlestick. You put a small wax stick in it to hold it there. Inside the stick–“

“I know what a candle is,” Kylo smiled as he placed it back down in the sand. He picked up a small metal box next. It had the similar dimensions of the tinderbox, but it was also much heavier and more detailed, with swirling patterns everywhere. “And what’s this?”

Hux frowned at the box, “I don’t know. Bring it here.”

He placed the box in Hux’s outstretched hand. He turned it around a few times before he chuckled and said “I think one of my crew members had smuggled this music box onto my ship.”

Hux looked a little sad at that fact. Kylo didn’t want to bring up bad memories so he instead asked “it plays music?”

“Yes, though I don’t know if it’ll work after having been submerged for days.”

On one side of the box there was a small metal handle which Hux turned a couple of times. As he pressed a button on the front, it opened and music started playing. It was _beautiful_. He placed the box down on the rock and looked at it wistfully. Kylo wanted to look at the box, but his eyes were driven to watch as Hux’s eyes shone with unshed tears.

He couldn’t help but whisper “I’m sorry about your men.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” came the hushed reply.

The music box continued playing for a while, interrupted only by Hux sniffling a couple of times.

As the melody came to an end, Kylo felt terrible for making Hux sad. It wasn’t supposed to go this way. He needed to make up for it, and he knew just the right way.

“Hux. I have another surprise for you. It’s not brandy,” Kylo was quick to add.

He perked up somewhat at that.

“Cover your eyes and I’ll go get it.” Hux did as told and Kylo quickly swam back behind the cave. The coat was still a little wet, but he just couldn’t wait to give it to him. He folded it as nicely as he could, then with great care to not get it wet again he returned to the man still covering his eyes.

“It’s not dry yet, but I wanted to give it to you now. You can open your eyes.”

Hux opened them and his gaze immediately drew down to the folded coat.

“You found my coat!” He actually gasped at the sight. Kylo placed the fabric in his hands. Hux stood up to fold it back out again. He seemed very pleased by the gift.

“I thought it had burned to ashes in the wreck, never to be seen again. Thank you, Kylo. Truly.”

“I’m glad you like it, since it’s a mating gift.”

Hux looked confused at that, “Huh? What do you mean by ‘mating gift’?”

Now Kylo was puzzled. “It’s about last night, remember? I don’t have much experience with human mating rituals other than the kissing, so I went with the mer approach: giving something that means a lot to them.”

Hux placed the coat on the slanted roof to dry before he walked back and sat down in front of Kylo. They looked each other in the eye. Hux’s smile had dropped, which in turn caused his to do so too. This couldn’t end well.

“Kylo, what are you talking about?” The tone and slow pronunciation of each word sounded like he was talking to a child.

“Last night,” Kylo explained, “I told you that I like you. And then we kissed.”

The grave face Hux wore suddenly changed to that of surprise, and not the good kind it seemed.

“what.”

 


	7. If I'm Lucky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, about 60% angst and 40% porn here.  
> At the end notes are a more in-depth description of said angst if anyone's curious.
> 
> Huge thanks to Phrixion for the beta work!

_Oh no_.

All the memories of last night came flooding in. He had kissed Kylo, and he’d _enjoyed it_. Hux’s vision started to blur and his breathing became more erratic with each second. He couldn’t think straight. The only word that seemed to come to him was the constant repeat of _nononono_. This couldn’t be. If someone were to find out about them, Hux would lose _everything_.

In the background he could faintly hear somebody say his name, as well as the sensation of arms around him. He tried to gulp in some air to his screaming lungs, but all that caused what whacking coughs. He attempted it again, and again, until he could finally feel his breathing start to slow and his sight returning.

Kylo was holding him tightly, along with whispering nonsense like _calm down_ , _you’re okay_ , _breathe_ and so on. Hux didn’t want it to be working, but it did. Having Kylo there with him, despite him being the cause of his panic attack, helped slow down his racing heart and quick breathing.

When everything finally slowed down, Hux managed to whisper out “This can’t happen.”

“Because I’m not human,” Kylo finished as he removed his arms from the embrace. Hux felt cold in an instant.

“No.” Whether Kylo was human or not wasn’t the case, “because you’re a man.”

Kylo looked confused by that statement. “You don’t like men?”

He couldn’t answer. Hux had long suspected that his sexual preference veered towards the same sex, but whenever those ideas came to mind, he would banish it as quickly as possible. Apparently last night’s heavy drinking had caused all of his buried feelings to spring forward.

Kylo was looking at him, though Hux didn’t look back. He just couldn’t reject him, because he _did_ like Kylo back. The lie would surely break his heart, and possibly even their friendship. Nonetheless, the ingrained thought to never utter a word related to who he was attracted to caused him to just stay silent.

“Hux?”

Hux had been quiet for too long, it seemed. He nodded back, signalling that he was still listening.

“Do you like men?”

He couldn’t say it. Simply couldn’t.

He nodded.

“Do you like me?”

Another nod.

“Then I don’t see a problem here. I don’t get _why_ we can’t mate: help me understand, Hux.”

Hux put his knees up to his chin and folded his arms around them, hugging tightly. He took a couple of seconds to get his bearings straight before meekly explaining the situation. “Sexual relations between two men is considered a sin, according to the Bible. Don’t ask what the Bible is: it’ll take too long to explain. Just know that many things in that book is used as a cornerstone for how we lay out our laws.”

If _anybody_ saw me in an intimate relationship with another man, I would lose all respect, as well as my title as a captain. I would never be able to get another job, in any field: I’d be an outcast; a beggar. And that is if I’m _lucky_.” Hux finally looked Kylo in the eye, pleading that he would understand, “if I’m not that fortunate, I will be hanged.”

The colour drained from the other’s face as the words sank in. “Oh,” was all that he said.

 

Silence was held for some time. The sun was already on its way down, giving everything an orange hue. Hux continued to hug himself while he thought about the outcomes of them continuing down this path: none of them were positive.

The only sounds that were made came from Kylo. He found the blanket, then wrapped it around Hux’s shoulders. A small smile was exchanged for it. But instead of going back underwater, as Hux thought he would do next, he shifted to lie down next to him. He placed his head on folded arms and curled his tail almost around Hux.

“Is this okay?” he asked.

“Yes,” it was more than okay. Although he didn’t want to be separated from the other so soon, the thought of Kylo accidentally choking on air in sleep caused him to hesitate. Hopefully he knew what he was doing.

Hux stared out into the horizon, and almost instinctively, his hand reached out to stroke along Kylo’s scales, as if he were a cat.

 _I touched his genitals last night!_ unexpectedly rang through his head. He tried to feign ignorance, though he could feel his face heat up at the memory. Hux prayed that Kylo didn’t bring it up, as that talk would just make everything harder. However, Hux was also quite curious as to what a merman’s penis looked like.

He would probably never get the chance to see it. _Just like I never thought mermen were real_ , his mind unhelpfully supplied.

 

He continued petting the tail well into the night. Kylo had already fallen asleep, but despite the tiredness he felt, sleep evaded him. Hux knew they were the only people around for possibly miles, but the fear of being discovered terrified him. And if they became more than friends, what then?

Hux didn’t think he could live alone on the island for all eternity; he needed to go back to civilisation sooner or later, or else he’d probably go mad from isolation. Never seeing Kylo again would also surely break both their hearts, and Hux couldn’t see himself loving anybody else. Just… everything seemed fruitless.

 _Love?_ Did he actually love him? _It was a fitting word_ , he thought as his gaze wandered over to Kylo’s sleeping form. _But how would that even work?_ They were from different worlds. Kylo could of course breathe above water, but traveling long distances was out of the question. And while Hux did go by sea for long stretches of time, he couldn’t just abandon his duty to live the very-much impossible life as a fish.

“I don’t know what to do,” Hux whispered, just to give voice to all the difficult thoughts swirling around in his head.

“Come here,” Kylo replied, voice gruff from sleep. “Lie down with me. We’ll think of something in the morning.”

He faltered on the request, but Kylo carefully dragged him down. Hux was manhandled to lie on his side underneath the other’s chin while having one arm used as a makeshift pillow. The other arm fell over his shoulder, essentially trapping him within the creature’s embrace. The sensation was foreign, but not entirely unwelcome.

He had never actually slept beside anyone before: he came from a wealthy family, and rose quickly through the ranks to never really experience it. Hux adjusted himself a little and made sure that the blanket covered his body, then evaluated if sleeping like this would even work for him.

It did.

 

Hux woke up slowly to the warm feeling of being nestled. At first he couldn’t fathom what had happened yesterday, but the sweet smile Kylo gave him in the early morning brought everything to the forefront of his mind.

“Good morning,” Kylo whispered.

Instead of acknowledging the greeting, he instead said “I thought you didn’t sleep on land in case you’d choke.”

“I said I didn’t normally do it, but I have a couple of times. Just to try if it was possible.” He gave a small chuckle, “there’s only been one occasion where I did choke.”

 _Good thing it didn’t happen this time,_ Hux thought. He would’ve had no idea how to tackle that situation. He ignored the slightly hurt look on the other’s face as he removed himself from the embrace. He had other more pressing matters at hand, like the very much important discussion they needed to have regarding their relationship. But firstly, he needed a piss. And some food.

Hux stood up to stretch while Kylo did it where he was still lying. He walked into the woods to relieve his full bladder, then went about to find a couple of edible fruits. Instead of plucking the ones he knew of, he took the chance to grab some of the other fruits he had yet to try.

Fortunately, they were hanging low enough for Hux to grab them right from the branches instead of actually climbing them, or the instance where he threw rocks at the coconuts hanging 4 metres up.

Hux placed the various foods in his upturned shirt then walked back to the beach. Kylo wasn’t there, so he must’ve gone back into the water for a quick dip. He placed his bounty precariously on the rock and contemplated which to eat first.

He inspected what looked to be a red apple, though the inside had the similarity to a white plum. The taste was bland, but not in a bad way, so he ate the rest of it and threw away the pit.

Fruit number two tasted _exactly_ like a potato, despite the green colour and ruffled texture. Hux opted out after the first bite, then went back to the apple-like ones. As Hux finished the second apple, Kylo emerged from the water.

When Kylo came within touching distance, Hux spoke up. “We need to talk.”

“Hm? About what?”

“About us,” Hux replied. He received a puzzled look in return.

He took a deep breath. “I don’t know what to do about this situation. I simply _can’t_ live out the rest of my days isolated here on the island; I need to go back to civilisation sooner or later. That is just a fact. You can’t live on land indefinitely, and I can’t live under water: another fact.”

And if we decide that we…” Hux had trouble continuing. It was both a terrifying and exhilarating word all in one, which made it even harder to utter out loud. But if they wanted to continue this relationship, and all that it implied, Hux needed to say it. “– _copulate_ , we can’t tell anyone, or show it outwardly _in any way_. But, I mean, who would even believe me if I say I were in a tryst with a fish-man of all people, it’s ridiculous! I’d be the laughing stock of the century. I would be thrown in a lunatic asylum much faster than hanged for my preference to _men_ –“

Hux was babbling now and he couldn’t seem to stop the barrage of nonsense. Kylo helpfully ended his monologue by physically placing a hand over his mouth. He didn’t even realise that his heart was beating rapidly in his chest.

The hand stayed there for a few seconds before Kylo removed it slowly. Hux took a couple of deep breaths to calm down before muttering “thank you.”

“It’s okay, Hux.” Kylo gave him a small smile, “I won’t tell anybody.”

Hux was about to start talking again, but Kylo held up a finger, signalling that he wasn’t done. “I don’t want you to get hurt, and I understand that you need to go back to your people in the future. But I won’t leave you that easily.” He then flashed his sharp teeth in a smile.

“We’ll figure something out before you leave. But until then, we can still enjoy ourselves here, yes?”

“… Yes.”

“Good. Can we kiss now?”

He hesitated on the request, but nobody would see it, and Hux was good at keeping secrets. _Fuck it_ , he thought, then leaned in to seal their lips. It was chaste at first, not more than featherlight pecks. Kylo shifted up slightly to better his position, and by doing so, he accidentally grabbed a tuft of Hux’s hair. The unexpected sensation caused him to moan, which in turn gave the other free reign of his open mouth.

Kylo was careful with using his teeth, but explored Hux’s tongue with his own quite vigorously. As the kiss turned even more heated, Hux had to pull back slightly to be able to breathe properly. Every swipe of the creature’s tongue went straight to his head. Kylo didn’t seem to take the withdrawal in a negative way, he just continued licking down his throat.

A small nick of his teeth over the jugular made Hux moan even more, now heard loudly without the mouth that had covered it earlier. Kylo’s hands roamed all over his body, first on the back of his neck, then down the spine before going over his shoulders and stopped at his chest.

Every single touch was somehow felt tenfold, and Hux couldn’t stop the shivers that followed the other’s fingers. Something grabbed at his shirt, and he looked down to see Kylo trying to untuck it.

“Off,” he growled in his ear. Hux had never followed an order quicker in his life, and within seconds the shirt was over his head and haphazardly thrown away. Kylo went back to ravaging his mouth as sharp nails carefully scratched down his front. One claw flicked against an erect nipple, causing him to gasp out in pleasure.

Seemingly spurred on by the noise, Kylo pushed him to lie on his back, then rolled on top, placed his lips over the nub, and sucked. And _licked_ , with even a hint of teeth thrown into the mix. Hux grabbed fistfuls of hair and held on for dear life, moaning all the while.

The way he was lying on him pressed wonderfully onto his achingly hard cock. It was all going too fast, and if they continued at the same pace, everything would be over embarrassingly quick.

“ _Ah_ , wait! Wait, wait. _Kylo stop!_ ” Kylo immediately stopped and placed his hands on either side of his body, lifting himself up to look down at him. His hair was a right mess, standing up in all directions. Hux didn’t need to look at himself to know the same was true for him.

“What’s wrong? Too much?”

“Yes,” Hux panted, “Too much. We need to slow this down a little. Get off.”

Kylo looked hurt by the request, but complied nonetheless. “I just need a breather, or it’ll all be over too soon,” he explained.

“Take all the time you need. Sorry if I was too eager.”

“No, no, don’t apologise. It’s just… I’ve never kissed anyone before, let alone _this_ .” Hux waved a hand in the air, conveying that _all of it_ was uncharted territory.

“Oh.”

“Yes. So, a little slower and– Kylo, are you _wagging your tail?_ ”

Kylo looked down his body, as if trying to confirm that his tail was indeed waving back and forth. He hesitantly said “yes?”

“What an odd thing to do,” he murmured, but didn’t think more of it.

Both men laid back down and looked up to the slanted roof for a couple of minutes. When Hux’s racing heart slowed down to more acceptable levels, and the throbbing erection had softened somewhat, he spoke up again. “How about I take the lead now? That way I can stop up if need be, yeah?”

He received an enthusiastic nod in return. _Good_. Hux took one last deep breath before sitting up and climbing atop Kylo’s body, carefully sitting on his stomach with a leg on either side.

They locked lips again, open-mouthed, as Hux’s hands wandered along the well-defined muscles of the other’s chest Kylo placed both hands on his waist, running them up and down the naked skin.. Hux tentatively peaked a nipple, and with the hitched sigh he got, he continued doing it.

His mind idly wandered to exactly _why_ exactly a fish-man had nipples in the first place, but didn’t care to delve deeper into that question. The muffled moans were all that mattered at the moment.

It didn’t take long before his cock jumped into action again. To alleviate the rising ache, he rutted to and fro slowly. The friction of Kylo’s chiselled abdominals were a wonderful sensation on his testicles and perineum, despite him still wearing breaches and drawers.

They were both moaning in-between the kisses, until something poked at Hux from behind. He knew that it was Kylo’s cock nestled between his cheeks even without looking behind.

“Somebody’s happy,” Hux couldn’t help but comment, chuckling.

“Very much,” the other replied.

He hopped off Kylo’s body in favour of finally seeing what a merman’s cock looked like, and stopped abruptly in his tracks. It felt like all his blood rushed straight to his groin, making him slightly woozy at the sight.

There were _two_ of them. Two magnificent specimens, jutting out side-by-side from the opened slit on Kylo’s tail.

“ _oh fuck_ ,” Hux whispered incredulously.

Whatever Kylo was about to say next tapered off into a low growl as Hux didn’t wait to ask before he reached out to touch. The texture was like the finest silk he’d ever felt. With one cock in either hand he experimentally stroked up and down. There was no need for saliva as apparently the slit supplied ample lubrication to the erections.

The angle was slightly awkward on Hux’s wrists, so he turned on top of Kylo’s body with the cocks right in front of him. He was so mesmerised by the motion of his fingers along the velvety skin that he almost didn’t register the lying man sitting upright.

Kylo grabbed his thighs and dragged him forward a little before capturing his lips in an open-mouthed kiss.

“Now you,” Kylo said as he scratched along his clothed crotch. Hux made quick work unbuttoning his breeches, then pushed the drawers underneath behind his aching testicles. The cock sprang out obscenely from the confines, head already wet and shiny with precome.

Kylo took hold of it, careful of the sharp claws. The webbing connecting his thumb to the forefinger laid like a sheet over the tip of Hux’s cock, which sent delicious shivers through his entire frame.

Hux suddenly had a brilliant idea and gently pushed the other’s hand away after a couple of strokes. He flashed a bright smile to insure Kylo that the act was appreciated, but he had a plan that would satisfy them both instead of just one.

He scooted forward until his cock slotted between the other two, then placed Kylo’s hands on the outer side of each while placing his own on the tail behind. That way, one person could decide the pressure, while the other picked the speed of the slide.

Hux started off slow, rutting back and forth to get the hang of the position. Kylo, on the other hand, had no problem with pushing his dicks tightly together. The narrow fit for Hux’s erection was _perfect_ , and he soon abandoned the unhurried movement in favour of frantically fucking through the opening.

Moans and gasps and the filthy slick sounds filled the otherwise silent air, which in turn urged them on to do more; push harder; _move faster_.

“ _Fuck_ , I’m so close. Kylo. Kylo, kiss me,” Hux managed to whisper.

Kylo slammed their lips together just as he felt himself going over the edge. The mind-blowing orgasm had him seeing white, nearly blacking out from it all. Kylo wasn’t far behind by the look of it. He scooped up the ejaculate covering his front to use as more slick on his own cocks. A couple more strokes, and he came with a growl, blanketing both stomachs with an impressive amount of white.

Hux felt all his strength leave him in one big swoop, and fell forward to rest his head on the other’s shoulder, panting hard. Kylo wrapped his arms around Hux’s body as he laid back down as well.

He hugged him while their breathing returned to normal, and then a couple of minutes more. Hux’s mind began to return to its normal speed without the interference of the previous sexual haze. A small part of him wanted to panic at what they’d just done, but he simply hadn’t the energy to feel bad. It worked out marvellously, and by the satisfied smile both of them wore, it didn’t seem fitting to ruin the moment with something as trivial as right or wrong.

The cooling come plastered between them could not be ignored, however. Hux sat up, steadying himself with a palm on the chest beneath him. The proof of their escapades had already started to dry, which had Hux involuntarily grimacing at.

“What I wouldn’t do for some soap right now,” he murmured. Some of the goo had even gotten on his clothes, he noticed.

“We need to wash this off before it gets even worse.”

Kylo nodded in agreement as Hux stood up on slightly wobbly legs. He didn’t bother to button up his breeches, only held onto them as he shuffled over to the ocean. The cold water lapping at his feet felt heavenly on his overheated skin, and he quickly submerged half his body.

Hux half-heartedly scrubbed away the ejaculate from his genitals and clothes, then entirely removed them before he walked back to the shelter. Being modest right now was a moot point, Kylo had already seen his bits.

He placed the drawers and breeches on the roof, then snatched his discarded shirt to dry himself off with before placing it beside the others. The coat was completely dry but essentially useless in the warm weather, so Hux just sat down on top of his blanket and placed one corner of it over his lap.

Kylo was back from his own dip. He had apparently gone to the cave and grabbed two mangoes before returning. Hux didn’t even realise that he was hungry until he saw the fruit. They were a little soft, but he knew they’d be just as good to eat now as when he lived there a few days prior.

Using the knife Hux cut up one, careful to not get the juices on himself, then proceeded to eat the slices. Kylo stretched out beside him, watching the act in comfortable silence.

“Not to ruin the mood, but how close is the nearest habitable island?” The question had actually plagued his mind ever since he first arrived here. By the way Kylo’s mouth turned slightly sour at the inquiry, he didn’t appreciate him asking it so soon.

“If you’re asking me to bring you back to your people, I guess it’ll take about a day.”

Kylo obviously didn’t like to say it, as Hux could practically cut the tension he felt with the knife still in his hand.

As he finished the first mango, his appetite had gone. He used a few splashes from his flask to get rid of some of the residue from his fingers, then gazed at Kylo. He didn’t look back.

“Kylo, look at me.”

The other huffed in irritation, but luckily locked eyes with him.

“I’m not saying I _want_ to leave you. You know that. But I have duties to attend. Although everybody probably think I’m dead, I still have work to do. You _know_ I can’t live here alone with you.”

“I just wish it didn’t have to be that way,” Kylo muttered, “these days with you have been the best time of my life, and I don’t want it to end.”

Hux was about to interject that they would still be able to see each other, albeit for shorter periods. And that it would have to be in secret. Kylo, however, voiced his concerns regarding that before Hux managed to speak up.

“How can I be sure that we will still meet? If we plan the time and you don’t show up, I can’t come up on land to find you again without humans seeing me. I will be all alone. Again.”

That was valid questions, and Hux didn’t have an answer. Before, his days were on a tight schedule with very little time to be idle. But if they were very strict on when the meetings occurred, it could work. Hux would _make_ it work.

Instead of asking him to sit up, Hux laid down next to him. He placed a hand on the other’s cheek and kissed him lightly.

“We can make this work. I promise,” He whispered.

They kissed languidly until the sun started to set. It didn’t seem like either of them were up for another round, so they just continued to hold each other in the shared space.

“I want to go back tomorrow. And after then we will meet up every three days, okay? We’ll find out at what time and on which spot the meetings happen.”

Kylo looked pained by the thought of Hux leaving, but he agreed. “Okay.”

“Good. Do you know how to read?”

He received a small nod. “I learned it only a short while ago, so some words are still difficult.”

“That’s okay. If I can’t see you some days, I will write a note and place it somewhere you can find it, so that you don’t have to worry.”

Kylo gave him another nod, then hugged him tightly as if he was leaving straight away. Hux accepted the embrace as he lightly scratched along the other’s scalp.

“We will make this work.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hux first has a small panic attack because of the events of last night (the make-out session and fondling), but manages to calm down with Kylo's help. He then explains why being gay during this period of time is a very bad idea if he's outed: sodomy is a sin punishable by death. 
> 
> Also, Hux needs to go back to civilisation, and Kylo doesn't like that idea, but he's trying to be good for his humon.


	8. Goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank you all for the amazing comments and kudos I've received for the fic! It's been really fun writing all of this, and now I have an abundance of information regarding 18th century life that I will probably never have use of :D  
> (I mean, seriously. I researched what the Netherlands was called back then JUST to mention that Hux drank Dutch brandy (I have never and will never half-ass things!)
> 
> Huge thanks to Phrixion for the beta work <3

Hux fell asleep shortly afterward. Kylo, however, had no such luck. He stayed awake until long after the sun had gone down. The uncertainty of never being able to see him again felt like a physical pain in his chest.

He knew he couldn’t keep the human on the island indefinitely. That would only cause Hux to resent him, and then maybe do something stupid like trying to swim alone back to where he came from.

There was no other option but to trust that he never broke the promise. Kylo didn’t know what he would do if Hux was lying; probably something stupid as well. The mating seemed genuine enough that Hux would come back later. And then there would be the possibility for them to mate again. And again.

A small shiver that escaped the sleeping man brought Kylo back to reality. Right: Hux was naked. The cold of the night was probably a little too much for him without clothes. Kylo reluctantly removed himself from the embrace, which caused the other to wake up.

“Huh?” came the sleepy murmur.

“I’ll be right back: I’m grabbing your coat.”

Kylo crawled to the other side of the shelter, fetched the still sun-warm fabric, then went back and draped it over Hux. He received a whispered “thank you” for it. It made him even sadder for the inevitable departure. Never being able to fall asleep curled up in each other’s arms again was breaking his heart.

Kylo returned to his previous position and hugged him tightly. Fortunately Hux’s head was beneath his chin, so he couldn’t see the couple of tears that escaped and trailed down to land silently in the sand.

“It’s okay, Kylo,” Hux suddenly whispered, “I’m not leaving you.”

 _Apparently not silent enough_.

“But you _are_ ,” he whispered back.

Hux moved back a little to look at Kylo. He carefully dried away the tracks with a thumb before saying “we will see each other again. Many more times, I promise.”

Despite the hard ring of truth laced in those words, Kylo was still unsure.

“We’re mates now, remember?” Hux gave him a small smile, which Kylo couldn’t help but return.

“I don’t think I will be able to get rid of you that easily, not that I even _want_ to in the first place.”

They both chuckled lightly at that. “Now get some sleep. You will need the energy for tomorrow’s travel. So do I.”

Hux gave him a quick kiss and closed his eyes. Kylo nuzzled closer and somehow managed to doze off to the rhythmic sound of the other’s breathing.

 

Kylo woke up to the sun shining its light in his face, but was wide awake when he felt something different: Hux’s warm embrace was gone. He jolted upright just to lie down again when he saw him within arm’s reach. Hux had clothed himself again and was silently eating some fruit.

“You’re a very heavy sleeper,” he said by way of greeting. “didn’t even bat an eye when I moved your ridiculously heavy tail off my legs.”

“When did you wake up?” Kylo asked in-between a sleepy yawn.

“I always get up before sunrise. It’s a habit.”

Kylo stretched out as his mind fully caught up with being awake. The tight feeling of having been out of the water for too long was quickly becoming a habit as well. Though it would probably never _not_ be uncomfortable.

As if summoned, Hux asked about that topic. “Isn’t being on land for long periods bad for you?”

“It’s not exactly _good_ for me; just very unpleasant when I’m too dry. The dryness could break my skin after two or three days.”

“… How do you know that?”

With how Hux looked uneasy at the thought of Kylo intentionally harming himself, he _would not_ like the next answer. “I– I’m very curious, which sometimes means that – that I do stupid stuff just to find out more.”

He received an unamused frown. “Don’t _even think_ about doing anything stupid where I can see it. Get in the water, you oaf.”

The insult was without malice, but not entirely without the underlying threat of what Hux would do in case he caught Kylo in the act of doing said stupid thing.

To break the tension, Kylo said “yes, mom” in an exaggerated voice before quickly slithering down the beach. In retaliation, Hux threw the pit of whatever fruit he was eating at his receding back.

He ducked under the surface and swam in circles for a couple of moments, then went deeper in search of some food.

As he ate a couple of fish, he remembered that this was the last day for them to be together. Appetite gone, Kylo swam to the cave and grabbed the board he first used as way of transporting Hux. The human was still sitting in the shade of his shelter when he crawled back on land.

Hux spoke up when he saw the wood he pushed on land, “I was thinking we rather use this roof as a raft. I have no need of it anymore, and that thing could barely hold my weight in the first place.”

“Oh. Okay.” If Hux didn’t want it, Kylo was free to have it as a keepsake; a little souvenir from their first official meeting. He threw it further up on land so it didn’t accidentally get caught on the tide.

He had trouble keeping the sadness away from his face, and Hux noticed it. “It’s going to be okay, Kylo.”

Instead of acknowledging what he said, Kylo asked “when is it you want to leave?”

“If you’re up for it, we can leave straight away.”

He nodded. It would be futile to try and change the other’s mind. Hux nodded back and rose up. Him disassembling the shelter was painful to watch, so Kylo went back into the ocean to wait.

It didn’t take long before Hux was dragging the roof to the water’s edge. He placed his folded coat and water flask on the leafy top before carefully putting his weight on it. The wood easily held him and Kylo grabbed a side to drag it further out.

“Wait! Could you fetch my boots, please? I would hate to leave them behind.”

The boots were in the same spot on top of the cave where Kylo had last put them. Hux’s socks were there too. He grabbed both sets and deposited them on the raft.

 

With calm waters and the high sun warming their skin, the ride back to civilisation was pretty uneventful. To keep their minds off the boring act, both Hux and Kylo told stories of their pasts: Hux told him about his birthplace in England and how he came to be a seafaring captain in such a short time. he said it required a firm hand and dedication to the jobs he was given. He also asked Kylo about his scars, especially the one bisecting his face.

“– Unless it’s a painful memory, of course. I wouldn’t want to bring up things from the past that you don’t like talking about.”

“No, it’s not painful – though it _was_ painful to get the wound in the first place – just something stupid I did,” Kylo told him. “I don’t know that the fish is called, but it’s very flat and likes to hide in the sand. It’s got a long tail that it used to attack me with.”

“It sounds like a stingray. Those aren’t prone to attack unprompted, though,” Hux mused.

“Well… I did bother it before the tail lashed out at my face.”

“Of course you did. And what about the one on your side?”

“Oh, that was a shark,” Kylo said, “I was in its territory, and it didn’t like it. Plus, I think it was hungry.”

Hux didn’t seem to like the answers he gave, but luckily didn’t berate him for it. Their talks soon changed to more light-hearted subjects, like the different places they’ve been to and what they discovered along their travels. However, the mood quickly changed when both Hux and Kylo saw land on the horizon.

“We’re here,” Hux solemnly muttered.

“Yes. I can’t be seen, so… you want me to let go and you swim the last stretches?”

Hux turned around to look at Kylo. He didn’t look back.

“No.” he reached out to place a hand atop Kylo’s head, then trailed it down his cheek before coming to a stop underneath his chin, carefully tipping his head up.

“I know where we are. If you push me to the other side of the bend, there’s not going to be any people around to see you. We can have a proper ‘goodbye’ there, as well as a talk on when and where we next meet.”

Glad that he didn’t need to say ‘farewell’ just yet, Kylo swam them in the direction Hux guided him. On the other side of an enormous island, there was a secluded spot, hidden behind large trees and bushes. Kylo pushed the raft until it got stuck on the smoothed-down rocks below, and Hux hopped off.

The human looked immensely happy to be on land again; he was practically beaming. Kylo tried to be happy for him, but the ache in his chest still remained. They’d even made good time, as the sun hadn’t started to set yet.

Hux sat down on the rocky surface, and they looked at each other for a couple of moments.

“How about we meet here in three days’ time? At sundown,” he whispered.

Kylo nodded back. It was the perfect spot. No-one would see them here, and it was far away enough that nobody could hear them either. He thought that Hux would leave right away, but the other still remained where he was sat. He seemed to contemplate on something, so Kylo stayed as well.

“Do you _need_ to eat humans?” He asked. “What I mean to ask is: is it detrimental to your health?”

“No. I just do it since I talk to them, and I don’t want your kind to hunt me.”

Hux nodded. “Just – don’t do it anymore, Kylo. For me. If what you catch in the ocean is not enough, I’d be happy to purchase other kinds of meat. You just have to ask.”

“Okay, Hux. For you.”

“Excellent. Now come here so I can kiss you.”

He didn’t need to be told twice, as Kylo almost jumped into the other’s arms the moment he said it. Hux would have undoubtedly fallen over if he hadn’t crouched down just before the onslaught. They shared languid kisses for some time, but an unexpected noise cause the human to jerk away.

It was fortunately just a small animal that dashed through the shrubbery. Though it did show that they weren’t alone anymore.

“I think it’s time for me to go,” Hux whispered. “We’ll see each other soon.”

“Not soon enough.”

The other chuckled at the childish tone in which Kylo said the words, but he kissed away the frown.

“It’s going to be okay. You’ll survive.”

Kylo hummed. “Goodbye, Hux.”

“Goodbye, Kylo”

 

It took several weeks for Kylo to put his trust in Hux’s promise. On every third day he waited fitfully by the secluded spot as the sun started to sink into the sea, afraid that the other would never show. But each and every time, he did.

During their time together, they mostly talked about the events that had happened when the other wasn’t around, as well as exchanging languid kisses. Sometimes Hux would be up for sexual release, but those instances were rare. Kylo was always ready, but he wouldn’t want to make Hux uncomfortable, so he relied on him to ask instead of making assumptions.

The days in-between their meetings, Kylo followed him whenever he went out to sea. Hux was gracious enough to tie a rope and let it trail into the water for him to hold on to. It wasn’t especially tiring to follow Hux’s ship, but Kylo appreciated the rest he got.

 

The first time Hux didn’t come to their scheduled date, Kylo felt a wave of anger and disappointment toward him. It was sheer luck as he lashed out at the rocks that he noticed a small book hidden between them. On the first page was what he could only guess were Hux’s immaculate handwriting.

 

 

Kylo read the note several times. It hurt that that book was his only meeting with Hux for the evening. He now had to wait another three days to find out whatever ‘make it up’ could entail.

He placed the book carefully back where he found it, then sank down into the ocean floor. The anger hadn’t yet subsided, so Kylo made a mental note to not bother the other. Primarily, he didn’t want Hux to be fearful of him while his emotions weren’t in control, but also: Hux was busy, and probably wouldn’t enjoy Kylo bothering him.

It actually wasn’t as hard as he thought staying out of Hux’s way the next couple of days. He was nowhere to be seen. The ship was still by the island, which meant _he_ was too. Kylo knew he had a house here, but he didn’t know exactly which. Not being able to even watch the human from a distance replaced his anger with worry.

Luckily today was the next time for their meeting, but if Hux wouldn’t show, Kylo didn’t know what he would do. He laid on a half-submerged rock by their secluded spot, unsuccessfully trying to relax. The sun hadn’t set just yet. He had stayed there for most of the day, and jumped in excitement at the tiniest noise, only to deflate again when all he saw were critters moving about.

The familiar sound of boots crunching leaves had him staring intently at the darkening woods. Hux had arrived; the recognisable red hair was the first thing Kylo saw. The second thing he noticed was that the human was carrying a leather bag.

Hux spoke up as soon as they were within earshot. “Again, I must apologise for not coming last time. Work was piling up on my desk and I couldn’t hold it off any longer.”

“It’s okay.” It actually wasn’t, but Kylo didn’t want him to feel bad. “What’s in the bag?”

“That is my physical apology to you. Come closer so I can explain.”

Hux put the bag on the ground, then sat down on a grassy patch. Kylo hesitantly crawled over. Realistically, he knew the other would never hurt him, but surprises weren’t something he was particularly fond of.

Without legs, Kylo couldn’t sit upright, so he laid down on his back and looked up at the man. Hux bent down at gave him a chaste kiss.

“Kylo, don’t be angry,” he meekly said, “But I was only partly truthful.”

Kylo quickly reigned in the small flutter of anger he felt, motioning Hux to continue.

“I actually did have quite a lot of work to be done, but paperwork wasn’t the only thing on my mind the last couple of days.”

“Oh?”

“No, I have been preparing for something special today.” There was an underlying erotic tone in which he said it, but Kylo couldn’t be entirely sure.

Hux moved to sit atop his tail, then placed a hand on the slit where his genitals were still hidden. He massaged the area until it started to slightly part. Kylo sat up and captured the other’s lips in a deep kiss as things got more heated.

As soon as both cocks sprung out, Hux grabbed and stroked them a couple of times. The erections fully engorged underneath his capable hands in a matter of minutes, making Kylo a little dizzy.

“I want both of these,” he whispered as the grip was bordering on a mix between pleasure and pain, “ _inside_ of me.”

Kylo wasn’t even sure that he could get anymore turned on, but _somehow_ Hux made it happen. He also had no idea how the logistics of that would involve, as the human didn’t have female genitalia.

“How?” Kylo managed to utter in-between the pleasured nonsensical sounds he made.

“I’m not telling, but I’ll show you. Stay there.”

Hux abruptly let go of his genitals, then stood up and removed his clothes, folding and placing each item carefully on top of a rock. When he finished undressing, he walked over to the discarded bag and took something out.

He was holding some sort of glass flask containing a strange liquid. It looked far too thick to be water as Hux inadvertently moved the glass as he sat back down on Kylo. Despite the sharp orange of the dying light around them, Kylo could see that the colour of the not-water was something between yellow and green.

Kylo’s arousal had simmered down a bit in favour of learning something new. “What’s that?” he asked.

“This,” Hux replied, holding the bottle aloft, “is olive oil.”

“And why did you bring olive oil?”

“Despite the copious amount of slick _you_ naturally produce, this bottle of oil will help these two,” Hux had grabbed Kylo hand and guided it to his cocks to illustrate his point. He didn’t get the chance to grab them before Hux steered his hand behind him. He pushed the pad of his finger against a small furled opening between the two bony globes before the start of his legs. “Get inside _here_ ,” Hux finished in a hushed whisper.

“Why? Do– does it feel good for you? It’s so tiny! I don’t want to cause you pain.” Kylo knew what the opening was for, but his mind blanked on _why_ and _how_ Hux wanted him inside there.

“Don’t worry, Kylo.” Hux let go of his wrist, and Kylo placed both hands on his waist. It was mostly for balance, but a small part of him wanted as much contact as possible.

“I did say I prepared for this outcome. And if we’re very careful, and use lots of oil, it will certainly feel fantastic for both of us.”

Hux removed the cork from the opening, and drizzled a small amount on his fingers. The smell was not _un_ pleasant, though unfamiliar to Kylo’s senses. Hux had placed his coated hand behind himself. The hitched breath escaping his open mouth was a clear enough indication that he had just inserted a finger into the furled hole.

“Unfortunately, you can’t do this for me, what with your webbing and those ungodly claws. Otherwise I would happily let you. But for now, how about you just sit back and enjoy the show.”

Kylo smirked and moved one hand from the other’s waist up to a perked nipple and scratched it lightly.

“You love my claws,” he said. Hux didn’t give a coherent response: only keened lowly at him as he flicked the nub some more.

Hux continued working himself open, applying more oil as necessary while Kylo gave featherlight touches on every part he could get his hands on. If some of the scratches left small welts on the skin, Hux didn’t say anything about it. By the sounds he made, it seemed that those marks were more appreciated.

“You said you prepared for this. Tell me: what did you do?”

“I–“ Hux hesitated. It looked as if he was uncomfortable answering.

Kylo grabbed his jutting cock and applied pressure. The longer Hux didn’t speak, the tighter he squeezed. Whatever insecurities the other had about their relationship, Kylo would never judge him on the answer.

“Go on,” he urged.

“A– after every stack of paper I finished by the evening, I–I played with myself.”

“And what, exactly, was it you did? Describe it to me.”

“ _Ah_ – I did this. I fingered myself for as long as I could before I needed to come. It felt _so good_.”

Even though Kylo wasn’t there to witness it, he could starkly imagine what the scene looked like: Hux, on his hands and knees – or maybe on his back? – putting one slick digit after another into his ass, stretching the muscle as wide as he could, then frantically jerking himself off with them still inside.

“How many?” he didn’t even realise he said it before the question tumbled out of his mouth. “How many fingers did you get inside?”

“At – at most, I got eight. I didn’t dare go over the thumb in case the width was too much.”

Kylo sat up abruptly. He grabbed Hux’s chin with one hand and went in for a deep kiss. The other hand snaked down to where the other’s fingers disappeared. He was up to the last knuckle of the third finger by that point.

Kylo nudged the last finger inside, and with the utmost care, he pushed in two of his own. The tight stretch of his webbing denied him to go further, so instead Kylo thrusted Hux’s digits. The hitched breaths and drawn-out moans sounded fantastic to his ears.

“if eight is too much, then my cocks will _ruin you_ ,” Kylo whispered as he gave a particularly hard thrust into his fingers. The high-pitched cry would probably be heard from miles away if Hux hadn’t muffled the sound in the crook of Kylo’s neck.

“No– no more,” Hux slurred, “I need you inside right now. Can’t wait anymore.”

Hux removed his fingers as Kylo grabbed his thighs and dragged him up towards his belly. The drag of Hux’s lower body over his genitals caused both to moan. Quickly finding the half-empty bottle of oil, Hux upturned it behind himself. Kylo felt the viscous liquid land on his cock, but most of it trailed down on each side of his body.

Kylo did the honours of slicking himself up as best he could, then asked “how d’you want to do this? One first?”

“No,” Hux gave him a hungry look. “I want to really _feel_ the stretch. I want you to jam both of them in simultaneously.”

The words went straight to Kylo’s cocks, causing them to twitch. He pushed the tips tightly together with one hand, while the other squeezed one of Hux’s ass cheek. Hux guided the erections to his hole, then sat down slowly. He had his head resting on Kylo’s chest, muttering profanities as the tips barely penetrated.

It was an especially tight fit, despite all the preparation. Kylo felt both heads being engulfed in the wet heat. It required all of his willpower to not suddenly thrust up to feel more of it; this had to go slow and carefully to not cause any damage.

At the halfway – and undeniably the thickest – point, Hux stopped to gulp in air. He was positively shivering.

“… you want to stop? I won’t be mad,” Kylo muttered into the ginger locks. He really didn’t want to stop, but not causing Hux pain was a much higher priority.

Hux shook his head frantically. “It feels…” he paused as he breathed in heavily. “Hurts… but in a good way. Want you to p-push me down when I say.”

“You sure?” Kylo received a sharp nod that nearly hit him in the jaw.

Hux breathed in a couple more times, then whispered “ _now._ ”

Kylo took hold of his hips and pushed him down the last inches. He was bracing himself for a scream, but it never came. He worriedly waited for the other to call it off, until he registered a dull pain on his chest. Hux had bit down hard on his pectoral to stop any sound he would’ve made. The bliss of bottoming out had apparently cancelled out the sensation of being bit.

They stayed like that for a few moments, completely still save for their exhalations of breath.

Hux removed his teeth, then lapped lightly on the worried skin. “I nearly came from that,” he mumbled. “Sadly don’t have the strength to move, though.”

“Don’t have to. I can do it.”

Before Hux had the chance to reply, Kylo laid back down and curled his tail to push himself upwards with. The movement would surely be strenuous after a while, but the moans filling the night air were well worth a few sore muscles.

Kylo held on to Hux’s waist in case he fell off, then thrusted shallowly at first. The hitched groans coming from the man on top was a clear indication that he liked it. As did the near-incoherent words of encouragement.

“Fuck! Fuck, _Kylo_ . Faster! _Yes!_ ”

Despite the awkward position, Kylo tried his damnedest to go faster. Now it looked like Hux was practically bouncing on his lap. He wanted to continue indefinitely fucking into Hux, but his creeping orgasm had other plans.

None of them had touched Hux’s cock since before the initial penetration. By the deep red look of it, as well as the clear fluid leaking onto his stomach, it was only a matter of time before Hux came.

Kylo was just about to reach over and jerk him off, but Hux had grabbed both of his wrists in an iron grip. He mentally prepared himself to help the other with his orgasm as soon as he came himself.

A few more violent thrusts into the tight heat, and Kylo saw a blinding white light. His hips stuttered, giving its last few pushes. The pliant body on top of him clearly couldn’t hold all of his ejaculate, as he felt it slowly running down the side of his tail.

Hux had fallen over at some point during the ordeal, slouching forwards on his chest. Kylo snaked his hand to where the other’s cock was, only to find a generous amount of come splattered on his belly.

“Did – did you orgasm? _Without_ being touched?”

He heard Hux huff a small laugh before he replied. “Yeah. Apparently so.”

The knowledge of Hux coming untouched had his still-buried but softening cocks give a valiant twitch. As a last courtesy before all strength left him, Kylo lifted the other up. The cocks slipped out without a hitch, though a small hiss escaped Hux’s mouth.

Kylo let him still lie on top of him as he stretched out his full length. As both started to get drowsy in the aftermath of their activities, Kylo unconsciously started petting the human’s sweat-damp hair. Hux didn’t seem adverse to it, so he continued on with the light treatment.

“Don’t want to go back.” Hux mumbled into his chest.

“Y’don’t have to. We’re both tired. Not a problem to stay here a while longer.”

“Good plan. Bother with everything later. Just have to rest for a few minutes… hours. Days?”

Kylo couldn’t help but rumble a laugh at the muffled and sleepy tone Hux had, which earned him a weak slap on the arm.

“Oh, I’m going to be so _sore_ tomorrow.”

“Very true.”

“It’s all your fault.”

“Also true.”

“I hate you.”

“You love me.”

An exasperated huff sounded from Hux’s lips. “I do.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is actually not done!  
> I'm going to post a small "intermission" type thing with Hux emerging from the bushes and everybody's like WTF (dunno exactly when, since I haven finished writing, but hopefully posted within the next couple of days)
> 
> Also, in case Hux's handwriting the book is hard to read, it's this:  
> I apologise for not coming today.  
> There is some work that require my attention at the moment.  
> I am truly sorry, but I will make it up to you.  
> – A. Hux

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me on Tumblr @nocturnalknowitall


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